Ex Nihilo
by Angusm3
Summary: Written by Quantum Rain, Agentaaa, and Angusm3  Angus, Hayle, Oresia, Skaer, Auger, Rain, Shale, Kain, Leo, Onyx, Jaxe, and Jacen are characters that we created in collaboration.


_**Ex Nihilo**_

**Fiction by:**

**Quantum Rain,**

**Agentaaa,**

**and Angusm3**

_Prologue:_

A war already thousands of years since its beginning, some worlds have already been devastated, but hope remains for those who wish to defend it... or destroy it.

Aeon's armies are amassing once more, though they emerge from the shadows of defeat against the Reapers in the service of Exitium, they hold courage still. Exitius sees this happening, and is already prepared to strike again, this time to kill. Merciless fighting shall take place soon.

Elsewhere, Anima creates her guardians, preparing to defend her creations still, even through the pain of death, she refuses to give in. Chaos's hordes are running rampant through the worlds though, creating pure discord in their wake, challenged only by Anima's warriors, they will, however, win if left unchecked.

Still, the gods are summoning their warriors, as more and more appear in the Sanctuary, a world otherwise known as the home of the gods, they appear in the respective thrones to each god, with the scenery equally matching their power. It is here where our story shall begin, and here it shall start to end, for out of nothing, out of Ex Nihilo, a story will start to weave itself together.

_Chapter 1:_

Rain knelt down, supporting himself with his sword. He was exhausted from fighting, as the bodies of a few of Exitium's reapers lay on the ground, dead, by all rights and purposes. The arena here was a grassy field. Not much cover, but it was better than the last world he was at. The wind gently blew Jacen's hair to the side, as the grass moved with it, dancing it seemed like. There were a few flowers, here and there, to make it seem less dull, or at least that is what it seemed like. There were trees in the distance, a forest rather, with a mountain rising out of it, going so high as for its peak to be hidden amongst the clouds.

Jacen "These things... They don't quit." *He says to himself, breathing heavily, as he slowly regains his strength. "I hate it, this fighting... It gets you nowhere..." He slowly gets back up, not trying to strain himself, as he knows better than that. He looks around, at where he was this time. "-and these portals. Every time they appear, I get thrown to some other world. My luck got me in this damn mess, as usual..." He pauses for a second, realizing that he was talking to no one in particular. "I need to stop talking to myself." He says again.

He started thinking that it may have been a bad idea to go out on his own rather than stick with a god. At least then he knows what to expect. "... I still hate surprises." He starts walking, favoring his left leg, as it was injured in the fight. He wasn't going anywhere in particular, just walking forward, aimlessly, as he soon lost himself in thought.

Jaxe laughed at the pathetic creature of Aeon, though human in appearance, its wings gave it away. "You're not very good at hiding, or running. Pathetic." He says to the man, walking towards him. He had his sword drawn, prepared to fight for Chaos again, or was it for himself? It didn't matter, especially to the poor soul that was Jaxe's prey.

Jaxe sprinted forward, and then just disappeared, teleporting to behind the man and stabbing him through the chest. He didn't have much time to react, he was barely able to take out his sword before the death blow. "You... y-you traitor..." He said in a weakening voice, at Jaxe.

Jaxe just smiled mischievously, as he pulled out his sword and kicked the man to the ground. "I don't care for your pathetic life. Merely the power I will gain from your death." He says, as an orb flies out of the body and into Jaxe, he glows a dark purple as power surges through his body, that same power increasing by a small margin.

Auger was lost. He had been walking along this grassy plain for a week now, and save for a few of the peculiar and destructive entities which called themselves "reapers", he had encountered noone. " I have been walking around for 2 weeks, and not a single worthwhile fight so far. just grass, grass, and more grass. At least its easy to keep myself alive here...". Auger suddenly noticed the dim sound of footsteps behind him. Looking behind him, Auger noticed a small group of Exitium's reapers. "More trash" Auger lamented, frowning " Well, beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.  
Auger was not even noticed before the first reaper was killed. even after being noticed, none of them reacted before he threw the reapers lifeless corpse at the rest of them, creating a momentary shield. The first reaper to get up swung at Auger, but the blow was easily dodged, and the reaper could not even dodge before the blade went through his stomach, fast as a bullet. Auger pulled the chain back, and withdrew his short blade, another reaper attempting to grab the chain, only to cut its hand on the blade when it suddenly withdrew.  
Auger had a manic grin on its face, holding his longsword in one hand while he held the chain of his weapon in the other, swinging it above his head. "I would prefer it if you all came at once. perhaps then one of you, at least, will be able to survive long enough to counter attack."  
The reapers quickly drew into a line formation, and prepared to charge, and Auger's smirk grew even wider as he charged in turn.

Angus emerged from his fast travel to see a warrior slaughtering reapers mercilessly. He only stood and watched until auger actually missed blocking a counter attack, the blow was not nearly fatal but it stunned him momentarily and he stepped back. Angus could not watch any longer, He raised his staff and disarmed the reapers. Then without any effort Auger sliced through them in one quick, deadly motion. Angus decides that Auger could be a potentially dangerous foe if approached threateningly.  
Angus approaches Auger with caution...

Auger was angry. "Why did you interrupt my sport. it finally got interesting, with that many. I probably wont find any sport that good for a while now." "You had received a blow to your person, correct?" said Angus with curiosity "I merely disarmed them to make your sport less, Dangerous" "Fool. if it isn't dangerous, the sport isn't worth it anymore. Besides, this wound barely breaks the skin. after giving them a free blow, I lose them to another hunter. Such a buzzkill." "I am sorry for ruining your sport" Angus fumbles for words "Would you like me to summons demons for your sport?" "Hmmm? so you can summon demons? Now that I think of it, I don't know you, stranger. But after seeing what you did to those reaper-things, I can guess at your combat capabilities."  
Auger begins swinging his blade over his head, and readies his sword.  
"Since you took away my old opponents, i guess you will have to be my new one in return. Don't die too quickly, or I won't be able to enjoy it properly."

Angus feels terror, and flees using Haste

Auger Took chase at his newfound opponent, but soon found himself out of breath. "Damn that stupid creature. First, he spoils my fight, then, he runs away rather than face me. Grrrr... I would do better moving in a different direction, perhaps getting some food before the end of the night.  
Auger soon came up on a small hill, and when he reached the top, noticed a groud of dead winged humans, and saw a bit of dust kicked up in the distance, suggesting someone was moving in that direction.  
"Who was proficient enough to cause this much carnage, I wonder" Auger mused, "Someone who left this much destruction in his wake...Perhaps i finally DO have an opponent."  
One of the creatures shifted slightly, and Auger promptly picked him up by his shoulders.  
"Speak, who did this to you?"  
"betrayer" the voice came out in a weak rasp from the humanoid being  
"Betrayer...? Whats that word mean?" Auger asked, but the creature had exhausted its remaining life force, and let out a sigh before exiting the world.  
"Bah, no matter." Auger decided "I can ask the "betrayer" what his name means when I catch up with him...before i impale my blade into his belly."  
Auger then began running to the source of the dust cloud, his only regret being that his opponent might be too tired to fight when he got there. Angus came out of haste to be in front of the kingdom he had long ago been a part of. He walked up to the entrance and was halted by a guard. "What is your business in the kingdom?" he demanded "It is I, Angus the Mage" To which the guard stepped aside respectfully. "Thank you guardian of the realm" mused Angus "your services are of a great value to our haven". Then he walked through the gates, inside the castle walls were people. People were everywhere, bustling about their normal business. There were chickens clucking and pigs snorting on store fronts. People were picking up and buying fruit and vegetables from grocers. Barkers were hollering about there wares, Angus wasted no time and headed straight for his destination. The swordplay trainer could teach him the art of the sword. "Hello old friend" Said Angus greeting his old friend and mentor. "I take it you want more training?" "Yes but not from you, where is the swordmaster?" "He is currently training a group of young warriors to parry attacks." "that is perfect, I am here to learn parrying first and then master counter attacks." "but this will take you many days and nights" said Skaer, judging. "Dark forces grow outside these walls and I need all the training I can get" breathed Angus "and this kingdom will not always be a haven." "Indeed, here is the swordmaster, he is finishing his lesson in a short while." said Skaer as he left. 

Angus waited until the swordmaster had finished with his trainees and went to talk to him. "I seem to recall you are a very skilled fighter who can teach his skill, is this correct still?" "Indeed it is still true, do you wish for me to teach to you the art of swordplay?" he replied. "I indeed need to know how to parry blows and counter attacks." "This shall be simple, it should only take a week to teach you a mastery of these skills." "Then can it be done?" "Yes, I will teach you what you need to know, starting tomorrow." After finally catching up to the "betrayer" auger found himself looking at a dark haired, red eyed young man. "You" Auger proclaimed, an arrogant smirk on his face "I can tell just by looking at you that you will be a great opponent. Auger drew his blades, switching into his fighting stance "Yes, you will last for quite a while." Auger remarked, throwing his short sword by the chain at his opponent, already preparing himself for the next strike. " You better not disappoint me"

Jaxe turns around and smiles at his new opponent, evaluating him quickly before the battle. "Heh, I'm plenty more than you can handle." He says in response to Auger as he motions with his hand, using magic, deflecting the chain away from himself, and pulls out his sword. He stands there, casually, already mocking his opponent. "Are you sure you want to pick a fight with me? Your death fuels my power. Do you wish to become one with me? Heh, the prey today are so desperate for the end, their fate." He says, just standing there, waiting for Auger to strike once more.

"Heh heh. You will be able to entertain me for a while. but you seem mistaken as to who the prey is here. Auger Moves forward, and brings his longsword down in a quick strike. "Ok, whoever dies in this fight is the prey" A manic grin appearing on Auger's face.

Jaxe rolls underneath the attack, just before it hits the ground, springing up, jumping into the air, spinning around, and doing the same to Auger as he tried to do with Jaxe, his sword poised to slash him. As he lands, either missing or hitting his target, he smiles at Auger, and says, "Oh I'm going to enjoy this." Chuckling to himself.

"someone who lasts the first strike. what a great world. ". auger barely blocks the attack with his longsword, and his blade is driven back, creating a thin, shallow cut. Auger brings his short sword in for an attack, letting go of the chain right before it hits, the chain beginning to entangle itself around Jaxe's legs.

Jaxe looks down and smiles at the chain. "Want to play that game, huh? Well, then, let's go for a ride." He says, smiling, as pitch black wings emerge from his back and he takes to the skies, carrying Auger with him. Once in the air, Jaxe spins around quickly, to disorient Auger, and to try to get him to let go, as energy starts to build into his wings, specifically. Time for high-speed flying.

"Hehehehe."Auger was amused by his preys actions, as the wind buffeted him from all sides. "I havent felt winds like these since those sandstorms when i was a kid." Auger's cut, hit by the wind, becomes a bit deeper and bleeds. Auger, seeing the opportunity, puts the blood on his hands to help him hang on. slowly, he climbed up the chain, heading for his prey, all his mind focused only on getting to his opponent and slicing him in half.

Jaxe smiles again at Auger, as he stops, he puts his power into his arm muscles. He raises his sword, preparing to strike the chain, in order to cut it. "Watch your step now." He says mockingly, as he slices the chain, the energy meant to cut it. Jaxe would watch if Auger fell, swooping down after him, sword held with both hands, pointing to the side as he prepares to strike at him again. His flight leaves a path of black feathers and a line of black energy, which quickly dissipates after a few seconds of existence.

"Hehehehehehe... I had 3 of the best mages of my world enhance this for durability. you think an attack of that level would destroy it?" Auger said mockingly. Sure enough, while the metal chain had a small nick in it, it held. Auger brought his long blade back "but this is an awkward way to fight" Auger grabbed a section, and pulled himself right next to Jaxe "I'm going to make you return to the ground one way or another".

Jaxe was still smiling at Auger. "Mmmm, no, not really." He says, as he fades away suddenly, appearing again a distance away, the chain not carrying with him. "You are an unsophisticated fighter." He comments, laughing now as he thinks he's won again. "Now." He says, as his wings glow a dark purple aura, filling up with energy. "Let's try that again, shall we?"

"people have said that to me before. sophistication just gets ya killed, in my opinion." Auger brings his weapons up as he falls, holding his short sword in one hand and long sword in the other. "You aren't going to run away like the other fools, I hope. Come on, then, try to slay me." Auger's grin was at its widest "Entertain me!"

Jaxe scoffs, and smiles. "While I would love to stay." He says, as his wings are now glowing quite brightly. "There are bigger fish than you to fry, but don't worry, we will meet again." He says, laughing some, then goes to continue, saying, "and when we do, I will kill you, but this little game is over. For now." Jaxe stretches his wings as he flies upward at surprising speeds, disappearing amongst the clouds.

"DAMNIT!" Auger screamed, throwing his short blade by the chain in a desperate, futile attempt to catch Jaxe. It missed, and after his momentary rage subsided, Auger realized the position he was in. "It's alright, it wont be my first time stopping a fall...hmmm...How did I do it last time?" Auger mused. Looking below him, he noticed a nearby cliff. "ah, now I remember" Auger realized, moving toward its position, while simultaneously getting his weapon ready for another throw. Auger threw his short blade at the cliff face, hooking it into the cliff. the sheer amount of vertical inertia soon ripped it back out, but it decreased the falling speed quite a bit. Auger then readied his longsword with the point directly below him, putting both hands onto the longswords handle. Auger managed to land alive, though a loud "crack!" resounded from one of his arms on impact, and he knew it had broken. "I guess I'll have to deal with one arm for the next little while" Lamented Auger. Auger grabbed his longsword and detached the chain from the weapon. "Well, I have found 2 opponents worthy of fighting so far. Coming here was a better decision than he had initially thought. "I'm actually going to have to make some armor...how long has it been since I needed to do that? hehehhehe" Auger began moving, seeking animals for leather and wood for a fire.

By this time Angus was waking up to his first day of training. Hayle had passed off his classes to one of the knights for the next week while he trained Angus. The training commenced, Angus would have the concept down by nightfall if he continued at his current pace.

Meanwhile, Skaer had bigger fish to fry, what Angus said worried him. He headed for the castle walls when "ORCS!" There came several hurried yells of worry "ORCS ON THE HILLS!"  
They had to act fast. "Skaer! We need you out there!" said an unidentifiable voice. Skaer started running, he ran past the gates as the drawbridge slammed shut behind him. His first attack was devestating, he blew half the army to pieces with a blast of sheer energy. The other half, spied him in amidst the chaos and said "KILL THE WIZARD" in their snarling tongue. He formed his sword and drew his dagger in his free hand. as they charged he slew them one by one. Just a constant stream of blood, his hands moving like lightning. Before he pulled his sword from one orc he was stabbing another in the head with his dagger, shrieks of pain coming as often as cries of death. The few that still stood looked in awe, the Mage standing angered behind several dead orcs. Before they could start running he had killed another one with his adminium blade. Then it registered in their heads that they stood no chance and managed a few to get away before 2 more had been slain.

The kingdom was safe, for now. Inside Angus and Hayle knew Skaer could handle it easily and continued training for the duration of the battle.

Auger was truly overjoyed. He had new opponents, his arm had begun to heal up in the splint, and he managed to get enough wood the day before to keep the fire going the whole night. moreover, he had heard the sound of battle earlier, in the distance, and planned to head there as soon as his arm healed. "I cannot underestimate the opponents coming for me, so i best get myself back in shape. Well, since one arms broken, I'll start with leg training. Aliright! I'll start off with 500 laps 'round the cliff." Auger began his training, happily anticipating the battles before him.

Rain was walking along, aimlessly it seemed, as he had no destination in mind. His instincts did tell him, though, that he was headed for civilization. This was confirmed as he approached the cliff edge, standing right at the edge, and as he looks outward, he could see a city being besieged by some army. He didn't know who they were at all, by appearance, after all, this was a foreign world to him.

He did know one thing, though. "If there is a battle... one of the gods are going to get involved. It's never just simple and out of the way..." He comments to himself, already analyzing the situation and its circumstances even from the distance away he was from the battle. "But... I don't think it's my problem, not now. Let them fight their useless wars if they want." He says to himself, trying to persuade that voice in his head telling him to go fight the enemy. He, himself, did not like war. Even if it was what he had to face in the future, what he will see constantly, he still doesn't like it at all.

Rain sat down, legs hanging over the edge, as he just watches from a distance, for now at least. "I wonder if they'll survive...?" He asks himself, wondering about the odds. Already now, though, if he were to fight, his wounds would not limit him. They were healed, mostly, bruises and some sore spots remaining, otherwise, nothing crucial.

Auger had finished his daily routine and was setting up camp for the night when he dimly heard someone talking nearby. "Perhaps the winged person has come back. I would like to fight him again...VERY much!" Auger walked towards Rain's general position, images of fighting and carnage exciting him as he walked.

Rain, in the silence around him, hears someone approaching, but makes no effort to leave or even bring out his weapon just in case. Instead, he just watches the battle in the far off distance. When the person would appear, Rain would still just be staring at the city.

Auger looked at the person in front of him. "Looks like I was wrong. The one I'm looking for has resemblance to him, but this man has nowhere hear the murderous intent the other did." As if suddenly realizing he was there, Auger looked over at rain. "A battle's going on down there, yeah. Seems like a few strong people, holding off a horde of weaklings. I wonder if the strong ones are strong enough to withstand this?"

"Survive or not, they'll die when the gods interfere." Rain replies plainly, not looking up at Auger at all to know that he was there. "They always interfere, and they bring devastation with them as well. Everywhere they go, nothing but pain and destruction appears in their wake." He says, somewhat sorrowfully it seems, like he empathizes or can relate to such, but still does not like.

"Gods? But that'd spoil my fun. If I lost the strong ones there, who would I fight? For that matter, if it bothers you, why are you so complacent about it? If I had a problem with something like that, I would simply change it."

Angus completes his first day of training with near mastery of parrying, "Tomorrow we will finish your lessons with parries and begin counter attacks." Skaer cantered up to them and told them what had just happened. "There hasn't been a fight like that in years! Ahh it brings back memories..." After soon they just went back to their bunk rooms and slept the rest of the night.

"Because it's not my fight." He says, standing up now. He looks over at Auger, memorizing how he looks. "But it seems like you're going to make it yours." He comments to him, as he turns around and walks toward the forest behind them. As he would enter it, he would disappear within the shadows.

Jaxe bows before his master, a form of the goddess, Chaos. "Is there something you require?" He asks her, while thinking of how disappointed he is of himself to have to bow before another being. Even if she was a goddess, he didn't care. It was... uncomfortable.  
"Yes." She replied plainly, smiling mischievously now. "That fool, Anima, has gotten in our way for the last time. She will attack us soon, and I know where. You, my dear friend, will help destroy her army once more." "As you desire." Jaxe replies, standing up now. "I take it you want no survivors?" He asks, curious, wondering of whether he can just go on a killing spree this time. "We're here to spread disorder, and so, no survivors. Take no prisoners." "Excellent.." Jaxe replies, very much pleased at the circumstances.

Auger tsked at Rain, as he walked away. "While he doesn't seem the strongest, I see no reason to avoid a perfectly good fight. I wonder what these gods are? ...Well, people called me the "god of fighting" back on Praaxis, maybe these people are the strongest fighters here." Auger looked over at the chaotic battle currently occuring. "well, my arm isnt up to full capacity, but why not? It seems this fight will be interesting." With those words, Auger jumped off the cliff, heading for the battlefield in front of him.  
Meanwhile, Shale quickly headed into the same forest Rain disappeared into, while it seemed he was walking to the outside observer, he actually moved faster than most people would running. "Tch. what a pain in the a** job Anima gave me. She already knows his answer, so why bother asking?" with that thought in mind, he finally caught up to Rain. "Oi, Rain!" Rain doesn't stop, but he was just casually walking, allowing the other person to catch up rather easily. He obviously heard him, though, given the silence, and the distance between them, but he didn't seem that interested in stopping to hear what he wanted to say, if anything at all. "tch. if I don't properly convey the message, Anima will be annoyed with me. very well." Shale began moving much faster than earlier, catching up to Rain. "Oi, I know you don't want to hear it, and the answer is no anyway, but could you please stop for a minute and politely listen first? If you ignore what I have to say, it's me that gets the flak, ya know?"

Rain stops and turns around to look at the man who kept pestering him. "Alright, what is it you want from me? My sword to call upon?" He asks the man, not particularly happy. "This war is futile, pointless..." Rain didn't seem at all like the warrior he might have been described as being.

Shale sighs "Look, I know the answer is no, and I really am sorry for disturbing your peace, but Anima wants me to ask for your help... She is finally goin' on the offensive, and wants to attack a castle of Chaos's. She also wants me to inform you that amongst chaos's defenders is a guy that goes by the name of Jax, or Jaxe, or somethin'. the assaults happenin' in a couple a' days, so just make your decision then. Personally, I wouldn't be fightin' if I wasnt bein' forced to, so it don't bother me if you decide not to. Alright, I'm done disturbing your peace, so i'm off."  
With that, Shale left, moving back towards the plains. "I feel sorry for him" Shale remarked to himself "This war ain't something a kid should be thrust into."

Auger, meanwhile, finally caught up with the greenskinned creatures known as orcs, as their army retreated.  
"You creatures are pathetic. Still, you will serve as a good warm up before I attack the ones within the castle." Auger stated, after jumping right in front of the army. One of the orcs, already frustrated from the loss, and even more irritated by a human boldly insulting him, moved to attack, axe out and ready to cleave auger in two. The orcs barely saw the longsword break first the shaft of the axe, followed by cutting his arm off. "it would be better if you came at me in a group, rather than fighting one by one. Otherwise, this won't even be good enough for morning exercise". auger drew his short blade, and shifted his grip to the chain. "come, now, show me that those large bodies of yours aren't only for show."

Angus and Hayle were already well into the subject of counter attacking. Angus had taken well to the theory and had already severely bruised 3 of the students pitted against him. They began begging for him to merely parry their attacks but with wooden swords, "what's the harm?" Angus thought. By midday he had already gone through 7 trainees, now sitting on the bench complaining. "What a bunch of wimps" he breathed to Hayle. "It's not their lack of skill, it's your excess, I taught this to you before if you'll remember." "I guess I retained a lot more than I first thought" Said Angus grinning.

Meanwhile, Auger was finishing up. "I'm disappointed. Judging by your looks, I thought you might have sme skill, but it's obvious-" Auger paused as he cleaved through another orc, while moving away from another orc's strike, in the same movement. "That you creatures simply attack with brute strength. I take it back, this isn't even good enough-" Another orc attacked, one with a white beard and, using swift, controlled swipes,battered Auger's defenses "For morning exercise" As Auger blocked the old orcs strike, he simultaneously chopped off his axe hand. the orc, filled with pain and terror, began to back away, but auger cut off his head with the next strike of his longsword. only a few orcs were left by now, shivering in terror. "Run. I no longer have any desire to fight you trash". Auger said, an expression of utter disgust on his lips. The orcs, grateful for this chance to escape, fled, with the exception of one. This last orc grabbed one of his fallen comrades' axes and began attacking. The Orc actually managed to drive Auger back, and for a few seconds, it was all Auger could do to stop the assault. "You shall pay for my father's death, human!" the orc screamed, lashing out wildly with his axes. "Oh, you are much more skilled than the rest of these creatures. And so young, too...It is a shame I must kill you now, when your abilities have only begun to develop" Auger sighed. "You MONSTER!" The orc screamed at the top of his voice. bellowing a war cry, he brough down both axes in an overhead blow, intending to cut Auger in half. instead, Auger stepped to the orcs side, and brought his longsword right into his neck. the orc's warcry was cut short as he fell to the ground, unconscious. "Father? another strange word I do not know. the people here are weird" Auger remarked, sighing.  
He looked back at the orc who was currently face down on the grass "I hit him with the back of the blade, so he will be unconscious for several hours, but he will survive." Augers grin became wide "train, and grow strong. then, seek me out and attempt to kill me. We will have so much fun." With that remark, Auger walked away, seeking his camp "And tomorrow, I attack that castle."

Angus finished up his training, "there is no need for further training, all you need to know you already knew. Consider this a refresher, you are officially graduated."  
That night Angus, Skaer, Hayle, and Oresia caught up on old times over a bountiful feast. They slept contentedly through the following night.

Jaxe smiles as he looks at the army Chaos assigned him to. The camp grounds were filled with tents, as more and more creatures, human, elf, or something else, kept appearing. The army kept growing. "This shall be an excellent battle..." He predicts, talking to himself of course. A Judge, one of Chaos's best soldier, walked up to Jaxe. "Everything is set. Soon, Anima's armies will succumb to our discord." He reported to Jaxe. It seemd as if Jaxe was higher up in the command chain, for now at least. "And for my efforts, more power will I obtain, and more chaos shall we spread." He says, continuing the Judge's statement.  
"Tomorrow we shall march, to defend our fortress and annihilate the enemy." He says, the Judge just turns around and walks away, not acknowledging that he heard Jaxe. "Hmph. Not even a slight bow. No wonder they call her forces the Chaotic Hordes... They wouldn't recognize their leader if he was a hundred feet tall." He says, smiling, as he laughed lightly, he seemed to find it funny, his situation.

Rain "...I guess I'll go to the city." He says, walking back to the cliff edge. It was morning already. Another day of missed sleep for Rain. "Someday, I'll collapse from exhaustion, but not today." He comments, as his white wings unfold, and he jumps off the cliff, flying roughly only three feet above the ground, and awfully fast too. Like a speeding bullet, he was headed for the city.

Shale observed the forces he was fighting alongside. "So much force... Do we really need all this?" Shale sighed again, lamenting that working to allow life to exist involved so much death "...I really do hate this war.  
A blonde haired girl appeaed next to him. all knew of both her beauty and strength, and shale was one of the few who would not instantly stop and bow in her presence. She was the goddess of life, Anima.  
"I would like you to lead this battle, Shale."  
"er...I am not that good with leading an army, I would only succeed in getting us kill-"  
Anima put one finger on his lips, stopping him midsentence "I haven't forgotten that you were one of the generals on your homeworld, you know. Stop shirking your responsibilities"  
"fine, then" Shale said reluctantly"...How many do you think we will lose in this battle?"  
Anima's mood became sombre "The armies of Chaos are strong, and she will be predicting this attack...".

"Very well, I will do my best to make sure as many survive as possible" Shale said.  
Meanwhile, the orc, whose name is onyx, finally woke up. after looking up and seeing his surroundings, he realizes the full extent of what happened, and that he was knocked out. he could not find any trace of Auger. "!"  
He roared to the heavens, feeling nothing but anger and shame.  
I swear on my soul, I will hunt down and kill that warrior, and make him feel the full price for what it is he has done!" Onyx howled. "hmmm...whats that cloud in the sky...?" Onyx mused "seems like the castle is once again besieged...perhaps my people are nearby?" Onyx headed in that direction as best he could, though he remained shaky from the earlier fight.

Auger finally woke up, yawning "man, it feels so good to finally get a great rest. I can head to that castle now... I hope the battle is as good as expected" Auger looked out to see a dark cloud o nthe horizon. "Hmm, from the looks of it, another battle is being fought. This will make it more-" Auger suddenly had an odd feeling of intuition "I cant help but feel that the dark one, with the wings, will be there. A rematch will certainly be in order." Auger's grin widened "After my training, I am much stronger than him in terms of power. You won't be able to run from this fight!"

A dark cloud loomed over the castle, through it poured hordes of Chaos warriors. And then... Chaos herself raged into reality, a dark aura surrounding her. "My loyal people! Evil is upon us!" she said "The armies of Anima loom not far from this outpost. I have brought my finest warriors, and I have... Ahem _Convinced_ the local orc populace to aid us in our struggle."

Skaer stood by solemnly "Why must these gods have their wars? Is there not enough death without their petty feuding?" he said to the quartet. "There is no chance of them succeeding, is there? for Chaos' sake! 5 dragons have come from the cloud since it opened. Who knows how many more lurk in the nether waiting to come through." "Trust me" Said Skaer "I didn't get here by being easy to kill."

Shale finished the last of the prep, and got the troops ready. "Perhaps she'll give me some peace before we-" In a flash, Anima appeared. "Time to start the attack, Shale!" Anima said, seeming amused.  
"alright, alright. Jeez, what are you, my mother?"  
"You could say that."  
"Heh. Fair 'nough"  
As quickly as she appeared, she was gone. "I really don't understand why she and the other gods can't jus' discuss this calmly, rather than rip up the universe fightin' each other." Shale turned to the elf nearest him "start the signal. We need to begin the attack."  
Shale sighed, a heavy sigh "And more death awaits us. yet another bloody battle we enter. I jus' hope I can keep my troops alive."  
Auger began moving towards the castle "I move way faster now. with this speed, I will easily beat the dark wing person ... why do I feel as though I have made a pun? anyway, I better get moving. "Auger sped off into the distance of the coming war.

"This fortification is much to valuable to be lost. It contains the secrets of this civilizations past." Skaer spat as he spoke.

"War is upon us friends, Chaos never fails to predict something like this. I only hope there are more forces beyond our walls that seek to aid us... Aid beyond that of an Orc."

Angus, Skaer, and Hayle went to the front of the front lines and ordered the rest back, "This is our fight" Said Angus "And we will prevail" Returned Hayle. In a few moments a lone Orc came hobbling over the hill. "State your business!" Roared Hayle "the Orc kept walking toward them, speechless. Angus disarmed him and Skaer stopped him in his tracks and raised him a few feet with telekinesis. "Now will you state your business here _Orc_?"

He was still without speech, "Here" said Skaer to Angus, handing him a scroll "read it" It was a scroll for the Shield spell.. and on the back was the Ventriloquism incantation. Angus learned them quickly and stowed them in his pack.

Rain was already inside the castle, blending in perfectly, it seemed. He was looking around, casually, observing, and usually hiding about in crowds or shadowy places, camouflaging himself to avoid guards and whatnot from questioning him directly. It worked, so long as they weren't looking for him directly either. "The battle is coming soon, I think..." He says, noting Chaos's presence in the castle grounds. "And when it comes, no flame shall spare this place."

Jaxe walked up to Chaos, as she called him forth. She whispered in Jaxe's ears a specific order. "Spread disorder in all of their hearts. I shall return, with many more warriors." She spoke softly, so that others couldn't hear. Then, the same way she appeared, she flew up into the sky, her form turning into a black storm cloud, sort of like a tornado when it shot back up into the sky. The clouds remained, hovering over the castle, a sign of danger looming either for the men below or for the army headed toward them.

Jaxe stood there, silent, expressionless, as the five dragons that came with Chaos remained. He looked over at one. Curious, did they feel emotions? They aren't afraid, most likely. "Where is the leader of this castle? I would like to speak to him." He calls out, loud enough for the others to hear. He laughed at himself, in his thoughts anyway, wondering at the irony of this situation. He was DEFENDING people, instead of killing them.

The elf politely bowed to his commander and walked off, talking to the other elves and creatures, who spread the word. Immediately, the army was prepared to march, for their master and creator, they would die for Anima. Perhaps it is death that awaits them, or glory, or victory even, maybe. It would all depend on what happens during the battle. The dragons roared as the sky drakes took flight, flying around the camp. Dwarfs collected their armor, and Elves their bows and swords. A giant colossus walked over the mountain side, beside the camp, making no roaring sound or anything of the like, just standing there, the statue that it is.

Chaos, in her Sanctum Throne, was noting odd things that were coming forth from the other gods. Though being the god of discord, she knew it was not like them for the others, just herself. "...Only I can be disorderly, dammit." She comments, displeased by not knowing what the other ones were doing. She sighed, and went back to creating more warriors, to which would be used to further destroy Anima's forces.

Anima was also creating more warriors, and observing Shale's progress with great interest. Soon, she would come. Yes, she'll come to the aid of her followers. Death is unfortunate, it is a stain, it must end. Somehow, she'll find a way. The Armored Dragon roared as life was breathed into it, calming down as it landed in front of its creator. Anima smiled, and petted it lightly. "There is always hope."

Meanwhile, the odd power surges from the other gods were still occurring, non-stop it seemed, as the war was very much still alive. None of them were willing to give up, and the more they refused to relent, the more they became encouraged to fight for their dreams, their beliefs. It seemed that this war would be endless after all, though. It would take a miracle to save this world, this universe.

Auger noted the warriors now gathering in front of the castle, and the strength that lay there.  
"I'll wait till the battle is joined, so I can fight both sides" Auger remarked as he looked at the forces gathered. "This fight will be the best one I've seen in a long time". As he grinned, he remarked "ah! It seems as though the long-ears are planning something..."  
Shale Began maneuvering his forces. He had half of his hunters hide in various position on the battlefield, ready to cut down any bold charge that came. He took the other half, and moved them to firing position. At this point, the hunters fired a volley, at the same time the dragons fired their ray into the arrows. the conjurers used their skill to bind the arrows and magic together, enchanting the arrows with the ability to turn those it hit to stone. "Charge!" Shale yelled, Sending his forces in. The battle had already begun, and he planned to win it.  
If all went according to Shale's plan, a wall of wood, created by his conjurers, would burst out to protect his soldiers as they moved in, preventing enemy missiles form harming them before they reached the castle.  
Meanwhile, his Hunters were all in camouflaged positions, ready to fire at any enemy that might burst from the gate.

The dragons flew high over the parapets, Fire flying past their mandibles onto the battlefield. "If we cannot see them, we will burn them" said the leading dragon.

Shale noticed the dragon fire into the forest. "Tch. I was hoping for more time before they attempted this. He looked at some of the advisors around him. "Get a small team of conjurers on fire suppression, and recall the hunters in the most danger". Turning to another advisor "Get the sky drakes attacking those dragons. they might not be able to kill the dragons on their own, but they can stall long enough until we can divert more forces to the problem." Roughly one quarter of the elf hunters were evacuated, some of them firing at the dragons. Some of the arrows hit, but they did little damage to the behemoths. Suddenly, the sky drakes came, firing volleys of energy missiles, staying evasive in their movements. they began splitting into groups, to surround and harass individual dragons.

Jaxe stands atop of the gate house, which was closed and barricaded to prevent entry. Arrows flew around him, missing him either through luck or Jaxe deflecting them with his mind. "Heh, is this the best they've got?" He asks, not impressed.

The storm above started getting more violent, as lightning struck the ground around Anima's army. Disorders came flying forth from the impact sites, speeding toward the enemy army, slicing away. The Chaos dragons turn their focus to the Sky Drakes, not going to bother with attacking them, they use their chaos ability to destroy the minds of the Sky Drake. Though damaged by the energy rain, they are still flying, as they chase the Sky Drakes. Several Vengeance angels take flight overhead of the enemy army, raining down magic spells and whatnot, while several black mages take to the walls with their other allies, bombarding the enemy further with magic. Chaotic Knights await the enemy behind the gate, anticipation almost overwhelming them.

Rain was inside the castle still, but standing on the wall, looking over it. Though he wasn't fighting, his presence wasn't noticed by the other Chaos soldiers. He looked over to see Jaxe standing on top of the gate house, and wonders to himself once more why they are fighting.

The trio had just finished killing a group of elves that attacked them, "It is time" said Skaer teleporting his two friends back within the walls of the castle. "This is my fight now" he said, a smirk growing hellishly on his bloodstained face.

The partisans lined the parapets and began firing volleys of lead into the advancing anima army. Chaotic knights began coming up from blurred holes in front of the castle, arrows bouncing off their heavy armour as they advanced. The ground behind them turning dark as midnight and their gaze turning elves against their brothers.

"Feh, it seems good so far, though the attackers are at a disadvantage now. i guess I will start with-" Auger stopped in midsentence as he noticed a winged creature on top of the gatehouse. "I can't tell from here, but it looks like him. "Alright!" Auger exclamated, running towards the gatehouse "I can finally finish this!" Auger ran at top speed for Jaxe, moving so fast a slight blur was created. Suddenly, he saw a blur heading towards him, and barely got his longsword up in time to block. "Out of my way, small fry." Auger said, throwing his short blade into the creature before it could move away. Auger noticed a vengeance angel, building up energy for what he knew was an attack spell. He interrupted the spell by throwing the body of the disorder at the angel, hitting it soundly and interrupting the spell before he moved on. By the time the creature got the corpse off of its face, Auger was already gone, making a trail through the army.  
"Seems like chaos got a good commander fo' herself" Shale remarked. "Alright, conjurers, do the conversion." The conjurers, working together, began making the earth shake. The spirits of the earth below the castle heeded their call, and a part of the wall began to feel the effects, as a small earthquake happened. the foundation still held somewhat, but the wall began falling. "Alright, bring in the reinforcements" Shale said to an advisor, who quickly made the signal. a portal appeared, allowing reinforcements to come in drove. The disorders were driven back by marauding hordes of werewolves, who made up the difference in speed with brute strength, endurance, and animalistic rage and reflex.

The elven warriors switched to using bows, finding the weak point of knights armor and firing. there were no longer any volleys, as the warriors, scattered, began firing at will. The conjurers began restoring some of the converted people to sanity, and created tendrils to entangle the legs of their opponents

Elsewhere, a small group of 4 elf avengers were fighting surrounded, and on their own. despite this, they were killing anything that came near, their opponents were fearful of their quick blades. They moved like a tank, mercilessly destroying any who got in their way, as they fought alongside the army.

Colossi began destroying anything in their path, dragons attacking in turn, but only able to nick their tough hides.

Armored dragons tunneled out directly underneath the enemy forces, killing many just by their initial entrance. so close to the wall, they fired their rays, attempting to turn the castle defenders to stone. a few branched off, and attacked the chaos dragons.

Dwarven berserkers were sent to the head of the army, becoming whirlwinds of destruction. Meanwhile, the remaining sky drakes began attacking the partisans directly, seeking to get rid of the nuisance the muskets offered.

Anima was finally on the offensive, and her children showed the full might that life could bring to the enemy.

Jaxe saw Auger, and immediately, he started thinking. "The fool thinks he can take me on my home field, does he? We shall see. Send the 2nd Chaotic Knight squad to eliminate the target. Call in the Chaotic Furies as well, and initiate long-range bombardment measures against the enemy." He says, giving out orders to a Marauder that was standing close behind him.

Ten chaotic knights were standing in front of Auger as he was headed for Jaxe, weapons drawn and prepared to strike at him as he passed by them, or stayed to fight them, it didn't matter.

Suddenly, several hundred Dark Rangers took to the walls, and let loose a large volley of energy arrows, showering Anima's forces, while Chaotic Furies found in the back of the castle, inside the walls, started bombarding the enemy with long-range magic attacks.

Marauders poured out of the gate, that was broken open, as hundreds of Chaotic knights followed suit, rushing onto the enemy with combat magic and other melee attacks. They proved to be nothing more than a diversion, however, as a couple of much larger Behemoths charged out and ran after the Colossi, ramming into them. They were trying to at least knock them over, if not destroy their legs.

More Disorders continued to be summoned via the lightning strikes, equaling out their losses, seemingly an endless swarm, but such might not be entirely true. They gave support to the Chaotic Knights by distracting the Werewolves away while they charged. 

A few more dragons appeared from the skies, swooping down on top of the armored dragons, all the while breathing an inferno on the enemy forces. The other dragons continue to divert the attention of the Sky Drakes, while Vengeance Angels continue raining down on the enemies. Both sides were taking heavy losses, but it didn't seem as if the battle would end soon.

Rain heard a scream and turned around to see a person about to get crushed by a large slab of rock. He jumped off the wall and sped toward the person at inhuman speeds, catching him and jumping far out of the way. "Gotcha." Rain said, as he carried her away from the impact. The lady looked extremely surprised, speechless, and unsure of what just happened, as one moment she was about to die, and the next, she was whisked away.

Skaer was tearing apart his foes with his Adminium blade in one hand and a formed katana in the other, a constant onslaught provided him with plenty of hearts to stop.

Angus, since he was back within castle walls sprinted to Oresia's shack "We need it now!" He hollered "Need what?" he responded "You know exactly what I'm talking about, it's time." Oresia just nodded as Angus rushed toward the open gates returning to battle.

Hayle meanwhile had already ran right back to the front lines of the battle. Fire was everywhere, incinerating everything alive. He hacked at any being foolish enough to oppose him, every single one was either flung to the ground or sent flying away from his blade. He was drenched in blood before long... "Surely you cannot hope to defeat us all foolish chaos worshiper?" said one of the dwarves "I'm just getting started" he retorted as he thrust his blade into the dying foe.

Oresia had been constructing something, monumental. He climbed into one of the many passages he had dug. He ran through the underground tunnel as fast as his legs could take him. Finally he was in the control room... "This is going to be the end..." he whispered pulling a lever. The earth began to shake and out of the ground rose A Terrifying mechanical. "Raatsh is complete" he said, with tears of joy welling up in his eyes.  
three of the colossal beings rose out of the ground...

Onyx couldn't believe his eyes. He saw fighting everywhere, creatures he could hardly imagine, massive things which made him feel so small. He also noticed his own people fighting amongst the odder forces, currently terrorized by a group of elves. with a war cry on his lipps and axes in hand, he moved to fight alongside his brethren, running as best he could.

Auger saw the group of knights currently in the past, pausing a moment to analyze his enemies. "tch. I'll have to hit them with my weapons directly. A blade throw will just bounce off" Auger, contrary to what his words seemed to convey, seemed more excited than irritated. The first knight attacked. Auger blocked his strike, and quick as lightning, moved to his side,stabbing him in the neck. he narrowly dodged a swing from another chaos knight. All of a sudden, he heard an odd thought in his mind. "_Serve chaos_ the voice seemed to say. "Chaos? the hell's that. What a stupid thought. " Auger said, the mind control ineffective against his utterly focused mind. "I can't waste time on this. you were interesting opponents, but I can't let him run again." Auger ran at the nearest chaos knight, twisting away from it's clumsy strike while simultaneously impaling him on his own blade. the knight next to auger went to strike, but tripped, entangled in the chain of Auger's weapon. after withdrawing the chain, Auger withdrew at top speed, the knights incapable of matching him in that regard.

Shale grimaced at the battle. "Hope those reinforcements of Anima's get here in time. At this rate, I won' even be able to initiate phase 2 of the plan..." Shale's musing was interrupted by the slight hum of a new portal opened. "Master Shale, the reinforcements you requested have arrived." he heard from the elven avenger behind him. "Excellent" remarked Shale. "time to start phase 2 of the plan then.  
Out of the portal came a small group of 10 elven warriors, 5 werewolves, and the Avenger himself. Even more impressive, however, were the larger groups of chimera and earth golems coming through. "how many Did ya bring with ya" Shale asked.

"roughly 50 golems, and twice the amount of chimaeras.  
"alright then, I recommend you put the chimaeras poison abilities to use against those dragons, see what ya can do there, and those quick li'l disorders will be utterly ineffective against the golems, so do what ya can there. anyway, make sure to take control of the conjurers once we are done. can't leave an asset like that laying around. Heh" Shale stopped himself. "Listen to me, babblin' like a mother hen. I am confident in your abilitiees, commander, so just do ya' best."  
"Y...Yes, master Shale" stammered the avenger.  
"Anyway, are the conjurers done the portal?"  
"It looks like it, Master Shale"  
A'right then, I'm gonna need those warriors, and the werewolves."  
moving over to a large group of Conjurers, Shale prepared to jump into the portal. "Good work. Chaos shields her castles heavily against portals like this, so I know what you musta' done to gain entry. I'm gonna need one of ya to come with me, and the rest of you rejoin the battle, after taking some time to rest"  
"Yes Master Shale" The elves said in unison  
Shale and his force passed through the portal, leading into the inner part of the castle.  
"Jeez, all this formality is killin' me" Shale remarked, before stepping through the portal.  
Meanwhile, Anima's army was fighting hard against chaos's  
One of the werewolves had apparently gotten to the partisan's wall section, and converted the wounded into a force of werewolves, ready to fight for their new lord Anima.  
The Chimeras worked together, hitting the dragons with neuro toxins designed to paralyze them, which, if they work properly will make them fall from the air.  
The earth golems began battering at the forces of the disorders, as well as breaking more holes in the walls of the chaos fortress, the swarming disorders attempted to hold them back, but their weapons did little to the powerful avatars of stone.

The battle had become mostly equal, with pain and suffering on all sides. nevetheless, both side fought, for the ideals their god had given them.

Jaxe smiles as Auger eliminates some of the Chaotic knights. Pleased that at least he was slowed down as more spirits became a part of him, increasing his power more and more by the second it seemed. He awaited patiently for Auger to reach him, as more chaos units blocked his way, slowing him down.

"The enemy continues to advance, sir, the fortress is doomed." The Marauder said to Jaxe, discouraged, obviously. "The battle is not over. The more we fight, the more that die. That is our goal." Jaxe replied coldly, as he knows full well it is not Chaos's desire to retreat from this fight. "This is an act of desperation only, relax, for soon, your goddess will join us."

* * *

More Chaos Dragons appeared, flying high in the sky, as they rained fire down on the enemies, and started affecting their minds, creating pure chaos within them. Some of the dragons directly engaging Anima's forces fall, but are still alive, and fight on the ground to the very end, taking as many down as possible.

The Chimeras would find themselves prime targets for the Disorders that finally stopped coming. They swarmed the winged creatures, avoiding friendly fire. The werewolves were free to attack the Chaotic Knights, or at least, they were until they started being flung about and crushed by magic powers from the now arriving Enforcers. Several more Behemoths rush out and charge into Anima's forces, crushing them under-foot and confronting the Earth Golems.

The Black Mages gathered together in one group, and started chanting, protected by what's left of the walls, meanwhile, Chaotic Knights continue to hold the line as best as they can. Dark Rangers showering the enemy closest to them with their special arrows still, poisoning everything, while the Chaotic Furies target the ranged units in Anima's army. Marauders supported the Chaotic Knights as best as they could, while what remained of the Vengeance Angels continued to shower the enemy with their magic attacks.

Rain stopped and let the girl back down onto the ground. He bowed and flew off again, his wings appearing as he takes to the skies. He notes that the storm was getting worse now, a symptom of the raging battle, perhaps, possibly. "This battle is claiming so many lives...I wish it would end." He says to himself, as a weird thought popped into his head. A familiar voice.

"If you fought to protect them, then you would be making a difference, wouldn't you?" The voice asked him. Rain couldn't tell where it was coming from but it was obviously a telepathic link from someone. "If I did," he replied via thoughts, "Then wouldn't it be against my beliefs? My desires?" He asks the voice, defending himself against the argument it presents. "What is it you believe in? Standing by and letting people die, or going to war so that others don't have to?" The voice said, hitting the mark exactly with Rain.

Rain flew, lost in thought and not concentrating on where he was going. However, subconsciously, he was analyzing the battlefield as he flew, appalled at the horrors he saw. "Do you not wish to save them, if possible? And if not, try anyway?" The voice asked Rain once more, wishing for an answer. Rain thought about it longer, still, but eventually, he saw what he needed to do. "... To save innocents... to shield them... yes... I shall protect their lives as best as I can, even if it is against my desires." He says to the voice, drawing his sword now.

"Then let the enemy fall before you, as you will be the shield of those who would destroy life, destroy innocents, and destroy the future itself. Fight for your beliefs, and show the gods this foolishness." The voice replied. Rain smiled, finally put on track, as he glowed white, leaving a bright white streak of light in his path. He suddenly changed direction, headed for the earth below. He impacted on the ground, right in the middle of the fighting between the Chaotic Knights and Anima's infantry. As he landed, energy blasted outward, in the form of swords, impaling enemies around him. "Let them learn what a true guardian is."

Rain stood up, white feathers hovering around him, as he himself stood like a statue in between the Chaotic Knights and the Werewolves/Dwarfs/Elves. He was silent, his expression serious, but emotionless. He held his sword casually, for now, as his white wings were spread out at their furthest length. "This war is filled with nothing but pain, but if I can prevent that for at least one person, then I have a meaning to live and fight." He says, taking a battle stance now. He was ready to fight, for once in a long time.

The Avenger leading the forces of Anima realized his troops were flagging. "at least I managed to get one last batch of reinforcements through the portal, but will it really make a difference?" The avenger mused "This fighting... It doesn't seem like it will finish very quickly at all" An elf advisor suddenly broke his thought "Sir, our forces are flagging in one of our central divisions. if we don't reinforce, we will have a hole in out lines."The avenger looked over at the advisor with concern "What is left?" he asked. The advisor looked at the battle report, and, with shock, reported "It appears to be a single dwarf...How frightening he must be! So, should i send a division of warriors for myself?" The avenger, with sudden hope in his eyes, remarks "no...I will go... Give battle control to major Raik. It's time for me to stop acting as a mere general, and get out there on the battlefield, fighting and dying alongside my brothers!"  
"v...very well, sir" The elf advisor stammered, but the avenger was gone before she could finish her sentence.

A collosi dueled with 2 shadow dragons, who attempted to destroy the colossi with their devouring flames. the Colossi gained many burns, but managed to hit one of the dragons with its stone blade, heavily inguring it and causing internal bleeding. Roaring in anger, the other dragon clawed out one of the colossi's eyes, and proceeded to shoot fire into the vulnerable area. Roaring, the colossi swung wildly for the dragon, but it had already went into the clouds.  
A new division of elven warriors appeared, quickly firing a volley of arrows into a horde of chaos knights and disorders, killing most of that division. A few black mages, seeing the threat, cast a large fireball, which exploded and killed all but a few of the division. Those who survived attempted to get up, only to be hit by the arrows of a dark ranger, ending their lives.

The earth golems and behemoths fought, a rough, uneven brawl, that destroyed all around them who came too near. A dark ranger attempted to aid her fellow behemoths in the conflict, but before the ranger could fire her first energy arrow, was crushed underneath the foot of a golem, who took no notice, enthralled as he was with fighting his opponent.

A lone dwarf berserker fought through a group of disorders, a veritable whirlwind with his axes. An enforcer appeared in front of him, chanting the words for a fireball spell, and he prepared to meet his end... Only for the fireball to be blocked by the blade of an elvish avenger. aided by the dwarf, the avenger went on the offensive, and put all his strength into attacking the enforcer. the enforcer cast a sleep spell on the dwarf, knocking him out, and attempted ot do the same to the Avenger, but before he could cast, he had to block the gargantuan blade of the Avenger, speeding towards him with eyes of anger

Auger was a whirling dervish of destruction, his movement so fast it was not easy to track, as he moved towards Jaxe, cutting down all who came before him without even stopping.  
Grabbing a Disorder with his chain, he spun it around like a flail to knock out a group of knights, before hurling the unfortunately still alive disorder into the flames of a shadow dragon. "I'm finally getting close" Auger remarked, heading on his way "My blade is destined to meet his once more."Auger grinned, noting only a few more soldiers stood between him and Jaxe. "hey" Auger yelled, seeking to get Jaxe's attention. "It's finally time for us to continue that fight of ours!"

Shale and his small force moved through the castle, Destroying what few guards remained within. "Alright, who has the Charges. we need to put one on this pillar. Shale's mission was simple: He was to use charges, infused with life energy, to destroy the castle in a covert operation. Doing so would rob the Chaotic forces of the advantage the thick stone walls offered.  
The second was to deal with the terrifying mechanical being said to have been created within the castle, to prevent it from joining with chaos and changing the momentum of the battle.  
"Stay back" Shale said, hearing the dim footsteps of an enforcer. "If we all attack this guy at once, we'll just be signin' our own death warrants. let me handle this one."  
Moving entirely silently, not even the noise of the wind giving him away, Shale moved quickly and silently, before decapitating the enforcer from the back. "I really am sorry about this, ya know?" Shale apologized "I really do hate all this fightin' "  
"let's move out already" Shale remarked, giving the O-K signal to his team, moving to destroy the castle, and the terrifying power that is Raatsh.

Jaxe turns to look at Auger, and laughs at his foolishness. "You, my boy, have been so much of a help in reaching my objective." He says to him, smiling evilly. "All the destruction, all the death around us only strengthens me further." Jaxe walks toward Auger, sword out, and surrounded by a dark purple aura. "If you want a fight, I shall give one to you, and then, you shall die."

The Chaos forces struck at Rain first, annoyed at his entrance into battle. Rain's response was quick, in a flash he struck the first Knight in a weak point, slicing off his head, and then punching the second one next to him, as flame consumed it. The elves jumped at Rain now, two with swords flew at Rain, one struck, but Rain jumped over it, as he went for the archers behind them. As he landed, he spun around, slicing an entire group of them apart.

"Like the wind, be swift." He thinks to himself, remembering the training his master, his trainer gave him on his graduation when he was 13. "Like the flame, be merciless." An arrow shot past him, as he turned around to block the elf swordsmen who quickly did a u-turn. The two groups were still separated where Rain was at least, as both sides saw a bigger threat in Rain.

Rain threw back the swordsmen, as he was shot in the back with an arrow. "Like the earth, be strong." He thinks again, shrugging off the pain as if it were nothing. He spun around and struck another elf archer with a fireblast, as he back-flipped into the air, dodging the elf swordsmen again. As he landed, he, once again, found himself around the Chaotic Knights, who wasted no time in striking at Rain before he landed. He was cut on his leg, but shrugged that off too.

"Like the water, be agile." He thought, as he spun around before another sword impaled him, he landed on top of a knight, and impaled him in the head, breaking the helmet entirely, as he jumps off, and flipping in the air, carrying the knight with him, he spun it as well, catapulting it at the enemy. He sent a blast of energy after the knight which, when it impacted against it, exploded, consuming the knight and a few surrounding units in a blaze of light.

"...So, that is how your strength works, taking it from others" Auger's smile, once wide, dissipated and became a frown. "One who fights cowardly, using the strength of others, and still continues to be so arrogant."auger quickly moved past the knights, with a broad sweep, and before another second had passed, the knight were all killed by the strike "One who uses such cowardly tactics, and dares to call himself strong. Strength is something born with, bought with blood, earned and fought for. The shape of one's strength exemplifies who he is. Your strength-" Auger stops and grabs a flask of water from his belt before continuing" is nothing. you are merely borrowing power from others. You have committed the only sin which will cause me to fight seriously."Auger puts down the flask of water. "Water is a precious resource on my planet, and symbolizes the continuation of life. me putting down this water means that, either I or you will lose here." Auger charged forward, moving at twice the speed he has thus shown before now "And that I put my life on this match." Auger slashed with his blade, at again twice the normal speed.  
"_hmmm, what is this weird feeling? it's not the battle lust I normally feel. just like back at the arena, what Rihanta Killed that guy who called me _friend. _Anyway, I can't lose, not now. _

"A'right, the charges are set and ready to go off in 5 minutes. All that's left is to exterminate the Raatsh" Shale moved forward through the rest of his team. his mission had been mostly a success, encountering only light resistance. it was only a matter of time before their presence was noticed, however, so they moved as quickly as they possibly could. Looking in a room, Shale noticed a man who appeared to be cheerfully celebrating an accomplishment, followed by a robotic giant whose look was extremely alien to Shale.  
"get the mini charge ready, and then run. I'm the only one that can throw th' charge and run in time. If you get away now, it'll be a'right. just make sure the charges go off."

Skaer looked dreadfully to the skies, a live dragon falling mere feet from him. "Those chimeras are really starting to piss me off" he exclaimed He began firing energy into the sky wildly, hitting some before they could begin dodging. "This is their last chance" he thought, welling up enormous amounts of energy, and then... "time never really stops, but if i had to choose when it did..." He released the massive amount of energy directly into the flock of chimeras, devilish grin on his face.

Hayle began charging through his foes, not caring if they opposed him, swinging with speed and precision as he charged. Enemies looked at him, shocked as he ran for the colossus. When he arrived it tried to crush him with it's foot "Not today you piece o' scrap metal" He thought, as he lunged onto his feet, climbing so fast it looked like he was soaring up the behemoth from onlookers below. Now he was at the head. "These look important" he said, hacking at the machinery on the back of it's head.

"It... it is all futile..." Thought Angus, he lay battered on the ground, bleeding from several wounds. "If I just had time..." An elf avenger stood over him, blade raised, ready to finish him off. Suddenly the elf was struck in the head with a knife, it was Skaer's, the elf looked enraged, as he turned to face Skaer the blade ripped out, taking half his head with it. Skaer walked over to Angus, "Get up, this isn't even close to being over."

Oresia spoke slowly "I know you're there, despite the war above I can still hear you breathing." He quickly turned to see a man with brown hair in the doorway. "Do you know what this is?" he said, pulling the pin on a grenade. after a few moments of silence he answered for him "It's one of my inventions, I think you'll see that it was a mistake coming here, what I hold in my hand is only a small piece of what I've hidden around MY KINGDOM" before he finished speaking he was punching buttons and pulling levers "prepare for your end." said Oresia, whom just, disappeared from the room, grenade falling from the now non-existant hand.

"My, my, what an impatient guy" Remarked Shale. Quickly, he moved towards the grenade and disarmed it. "now then" Shale began disassembling the grenade as he talked "I guess I can't slow down. I'll just join up with the squad, and figure a way out of here." Suddenly, a loud Boom was heard in the distance. the earth buckled as the castle itself began collapsing. Tremors could be felt and rubble began falling from the ceiling. "The charges went off already, eh? GOtta trust the squad made it to the evac point on time. I'm getting out of here before anything else happens." Shale ran out, moving so fast he could not be properly tracked by the naked eye, leaving copies of him as optical illusions behind him as he ran.

Jaxe smiled, as he dodged the attack easily, matching Auger's speed, and then tripped him with his foot, sending Auger flying forward toward the ground most likely. "Those who cannot use their strength don't deserve to keep it." Jaxe replies to Auger's statements. "But you, oh, you are so intriguing... a defiler of fate, perhaps? No, maybe something else." He says, as he blocks another of Auger's strikes, most likely. "I can see inside your heart. Filled with... nothingness. Would you like it to be filled with anger? No? How about sorrow?" He says, pushing Auger back again with a surge of energy. "Come at me then, and I shall give you an everlasting gift!"

Rain jumped up into the air again, dodging an attack from an elf again, as he got showered with arrows. Most of them he deflected with his sword, but was hit by two. One in the arm and another in the leg. He shrugged off the pain again, as he flipped in the air, and came down, sword poised to impale the area around several knights and elves. "Like the light, be blinding and glorious." He thought again, as he impacted into the ground, energy flying out of his sword and tearing apart the earth around him. The energy flew upward, sending all the knights and elves in about a ten meter radius around Rain flying into the air.

"And like the shadows, disappear." Rain fades into nothingness, camouflaging himself, the knights and the elves get back up, or at least the few that are alive from the attack. They would see air where Rain was, and a small crater from the impact site. Suddenly, though, one of the knights was sent flying, as a faint silhouette was seen rushing by. Then another knight, as the silhouette continued its rampage, another knight fell, and then an elf, before the silhouette was hit with an arrow and stopped. Rain phased back into existence again, kneeling on the ground, coughing up a bit of blood. _My body can't take much more of this punishment... the more power I use, the weaker I become now..._ He looks around as the knights start to surround him again. _And it doesn't look like this is going to end any time soon._

Auger sprung up on his hands, avoiding the fall, only to be held back by the surge of energy. "Strength is gained to protect and represent what you are. it being twisted into your goals is the most vile of things you could do." Snapping the chain off of his weapon, Auger charged at Jaxe with a swipe, moving even a slight bit faster than he did initially. from there, he continued to assault Jaxe with a flurry of swordplay, scarcely noticing when the Roof and walls began to collapse, and certainly not stopping, even despite the numerous earthquakes going on around him. A rock collapsed from the ceiling, which Auger kicked at his foe, before charging once again, a low stab ready, while he kept his short sword close to his chest, intending to use it like a parrying dagger.

"The clock is ticking, twenty minutes" said Oresia "It's time to fly" he said hailing a dragon from the sky. As they flew Skaer spotted Hayle, He began waving frantically, as they flew past the colossus he jumped on.

"It's over patchwork..." said a voice in Skaer's head. "That hasn't been my name since... Chronos!" Distracted, he nearly missed the colossus his energy beam was intended for, knocking it over. Time began to warp, the grass was green and the castle was rubble. "What the hell is this?" "It's to show you what will soon become of these lands, as you can see they are no longer affected by war." "Where are we?" "it's 'when are we' Skaer, this is long after the present..."

Oresia, Hayle, and Angus were falling, with no-one who knew who to ride a dragon they couldn't fly much further. They managed to land him on a grassy knoll away from the fighting. "Where the hell happened to Skaer I-" "From here we can watch it happen" Said Oresia. "watch.. What happen?" asked Angus. "The glow... you will see it soon... the wonderful glow..." his voice trailed off.

Jaxe sliced the rock in half as he jumped up into the air, after sending a beam of energy at Auger, which was mainly meant to distract him. "Honor? There is none, nor hope, nor life, nor light or joy. They are fantasies, illusions, legends, and myths you and your kind created to battle the shadows I was born from. There is nothing, nothing but sorrow and anger!" He yelled out at Auger as he started spinning, his blade held out as it sliced stone like a hot knife through butter. He was falling toward Auger. Jaxe was also channeling energy through his body for a counter-strike, which he knew was coming.

Rain dodged an attack from a knight, back-flipping into the air, and coming down on an elf warrior, stabbing him, as he catapulted him into the knights. He channeled energy into his arm as he blocked another knight and punched him, setting him ablaze. "You all create nothing but pain and devastation wherever you go. I will not have it anymore!" Rain yelled out at his enemies as he lifted his arm to the skies. Energy shot out of it and did a u-turn in the air, splitting into multiple beams which impaled knights and elves alike, killing them in an immediate area around Rain.

The storm seemed to grow more violent, as a tornado fell out of the sky and hit the ground, right on top of some of Anima's soldiers. Lightning shot out of the tornado, impaling even more enemies, as Chaos appeared inside it. (Chaos, form 2) The tornado dissipated as she appeared. She seemed to be channeling her energy for another, similar, strike.

Suddenly, though, a majority of the soldiers that died by Chaos's attack were revived. A glowing green energy consumed their figure, lifted them up as life was breathed into them, and then disappeared, allowing them back into the fight with renewed vitality. Anima appeared, walking out of the forest, wielding a wooden staff with a glowing green crystal at the top. (Anima, form 4)

Chaos yelled out, as she sent energy waves at Anima, and flew at her, channeling energy into her arms for an overwhelming strike at her enemy. She kept sending energy wave after wave, meant mainly to distract the goddess as she approached. (Anyone wishing to control Anima should post her reaction soon, otherwise, I shall control her.)

Suddenly, the Vengeance Angels were under attack by two Evraes that pierced through the skies and came on top of them, attacking them with their mystic attacks. The sound of a trumpet could be heard clearly over the battlefield, as light started piercing through the stormy skies. Over the horizon, where a bright light appeared, nearly blinding anyone who looked upon it, marched another army, with Aeon leading it. (Aeon, form 3)

However, at the opposite side, the skies darkened even further, as an army, whose armor was as black as the night sky, appeared, marching toward the battlefield. Exitius could be seen leading it, at the head of a variety of different creatures. Three Shadow dragons flew out of the black mass, headed straight for Aeon's forces, who countered with several Starlight dragons, who assaulted the shadow ones with the same momentum. (Exitius, form 2)

The two armies charged forward, colliding into the battlefield, creating even more chaos and destruction in their wake, as it was now a four-way battle between the gods, massive armies appearing left and right, as the battle reached its peak. The castle was surely doomed to obliteration now.

Shale ran with his team, stopping occasionally to fight pockets of enemy resistance. they were nearly out of the gates of the castle, when a young, frightened guard stood in front of him "I-I-I-I will s-s-stop you here, you murderers!' It was obvious to anyone around that the Man was frightened, and holding only a musket at close range, outmatched as well. "now, now, we won't be causing any trouble, if you just be so kind as to let us through, we won't do anything to harm you..." No! said the guard, firing his weapon at Shale. "now now, youngin', we don't want to hurt nobody here" Said Shale, standing behind the guard. "I am proud to die this way!" Screamed the guard before Shale stuck his finger into the guard's neck. The guard fell to the ground, unmoving. " alright, someone grab him, we need to take him with us" Shale commented.

"eh, sir, are we to take a corpse...?" Remarked one of the elven warriors, somewhat perturbed at the notion. "No, he isn't dead. I merely knocked him out. there will be more than enough death later today, killing such an innocent soul would be wrong. There are refugee tunnels near here, we will leave him near the entrance. He'll wake up in about 5 minutes, and hopefully hid in the tunnels, if he has any sense." One elven warrior stepped up face to face with Shale, Anger in his eyes. " You knew about these tunnels! If you knew about them, why did you make no action towards them! We could have armored dragons break them, or cut them off, or-" Shale, waggling his finger, cut him off "And kill everyone inside, yes? Including the young children and women and men too old or infirm to fight. We are fighting on the side of life, warrior, you should remember that. leave slaughter like that to exitius, or chaos." The elven warrior did not back down. "We are the defenders of life! We have the right and authority to cut down-" Shale quietly and simply said "If Anima were to see you cutting down innocent women and children, who were simply trying to run, what expression do you think you would see on her face?" The warrior looked as shocked as if Shale had slapped him in the face, and quietly stepped back. "We need to get moving" Shale moved forward, ready to move "we can cut through that thin line of troops, and rejoin the main force there. After stopping by the tunnels, of course."  
Without objections, the team moved out. 

Auger stopped the attack with a two handed blow from his longsword, putting the short sword in its sheath. " My sword is merely metal and magic, bound together by smiths. it has no meaning beyond what it was crafted to have. It makes it no less real."drawing his short blade out, he charged, intending to stop whatever block jaxe intended with his shortsword to slash with his longsword. "I-" Auger stopped as he noticed a being outside, white wings outsretched, and recognized him as the man he thought a weakling he had met a few days before.  
_I thought this wasn't his fight? he seems to be losing though. It's a shame he is losing, after finally finding the will to take part. ...I don't want him to lose this fight. Are these weird thoughts what that old man called feelings? If I don't save him now, I don't think I will find out. _

Auger's focus now shifted, from destroying the opponent before him, to protecting the warrior outside. "Sorry, I don't have time for this fight anymore." He said, intending to charge and continue on past.

Onyx had been fighting towards where his orc brethren fought, fighting past any elf or other creature in his way. Wielding his axe, he crushed the head of those in front of him. A Dwarf berserker stood in front of him, holding a axe larger than Onyx's own. he two fought, blades clashing, both fighting with their full strength, never quite being able to land a clean blow on the other. slight cuts and bruises appeared all over their bodies as the fight continued.

The dwarf tried an overhand blow, Which Onyx blocked with his own axe, and he made a grab for the dwarf's weapon. A dwarf's strength matches even that of the strongest orc, however, and The two ended up fighting over the grasp of the weapon. The berserker wrenched the axe free of Onyx's grip, only to get a kick to the face. Onyx brought down the axe, intending to smash the dwarf's head, but the dwarf managed to get up his weapon in time to block. Onyx smashed the dwarf's "Vulnerables" with his knee, and Cleaved the dwarf's head off as he dropped the axe in pain, a quick blow that ended the conflict quickly.

Before continuing, the Orc looked over at the dwarfs corpse, parting with the words "You were a mighty warrior. I honor you and your strength." Then, the Orc bellowed a battlecry and continued fighting, all his mind resting on the preservation of his people.

Jaxe smiled as Auger ran past him. He didn't try to stop him at all, as odd as it sounds. "And the first piece clicks into place…" He says, as he looks around now, looking onward at the battlefield. It was far from being in Chaos's favor, despite the chaotic fighting. All four gods were here, and so, it was likely time to leave before they stopped pulling their punches. "This isn't at all a good situation…" He said, then turned to the Marauder, which was still there, and just got done killing a Warrior Angel that tried to kill him. "Sit-rep. Now." Jaxe ordered of the man. The man scoffed, as he replied saying, "We're getting our butts kicked from three different angles." Jaxe just shakes his head in dismay, annoyed at the obviousness of his statement. "Alright then, I'll be specific, what's the status of the gate defenders?" He asks, restating his question.

Another arrow hit Rain's shoulder, as soon his body started to fail on him. _This isn't good... crap… not now…_ He managed to keep going, despite his injuries. Though he felt no pain, he knew his body couldn't take much more punishment before failing and his nanites couldn't keep up with the demand due to fighting the poison found in some of the arrows. He jumps back, dodging a swing from a Knight, as he retaliated, slicing off the knight's head. He jumped back again, as several arrows flew by. He may be slowed down by a degree, but he could still fight regardless.

Anima conjured up an energy barrier, preventing the waves from impacting onto the ground, as the barrier in turn blasted forth, hitting Chaos and sending her backwards. Anima jumped up into the air, as she sent a wave of energy ahead of her, originating from her staff. Chaos recovered, not even scratched, as she quickly channeled her power and sent out a surge ahead of her. It impacted against the wave, as a fight ensued, Anima increasing the wave's energy, and Chaos on the other hand, trying to overwhelm Anima with her power. The backwash was bolts of said energy, and blasts that came outward from the impact that damaged any units near it, possibly even killing them.

The two newly arrived armies collide with the current two, increasing the magnitude of this battle drastically, as fighting ensues even well away from the castle grounds. Aeon and Exitius are fighting at the front lines, tearing apart enemies as they charge at them. One after another, more and more died in this battle, as it soon became very bloody. The worst part to think about of this battle, was that it was just one of several occurrences that were even larger in scale.

Auger carved a path through his enemies, a destructive missile heading through the crowd.  
A chaos knight attempted to slash him, he dodged underneath it. A disorder came at him, he impaled it on his blade with the force of the disorders' own momentum. A behemoth attempted to bite him in two, he jumped onto the back of its head and stabbed his blade into its neck before moving on. Finally, all that stands between him and Rain is a single chaos knight, readying himself to stab at Auger. 'Oi, you with the wings" he says, as he dodges the chaos knights clumsy attempt to impale him, and cuts off the exposed arm. "you look like you could use some help" Auger said as he decapitated the knight. walking into the middle of the circle Rain had been surrounded in. "I don't know how they taught you where you come from... But in my time, the preferred position for when 2 fought many... was back to back!" 

Shale fought with his team, cutting a path back to Anima's lines. A small, elite force, they fought past the forces coming after them, intending to push through as quickly as possible. A group of chaotic knights in front of them suddenly died, as they were cut up from behind by a blademaster of Exitius.

Shale knew he could defeat the blademaster, but he couldn't finish the battle before other troops took notice. A plan forming in his mind, Shale looked at what was left of his Squad. the conjurer, about 6 warriors, and three werewolves. "I have a plan" Shale said, using his connection with the wind to silently utter everyone's part to them, while the blademaster couldn't hear a word.

Shale charged the blademaster with all his speed and strength, driving the blademaster back. The blademaster responded in kind, attacking with his own blade, pushing Shale on the defensive with fast, furious swipes. The werewolves sprang on him, stopping him from charging forward and pushing Shale back further. Mere werewolves were no match for him, however, and he drove them back with his attacks, only their animal reflex kept them alive. one werewolf gained a nasty cut on his face, leaving a deep, bleeding wound. Shale sent swipes of wind at the blademaster, but he deflected them all. Expressionlessly, the blademaster began to move forward...Only to stop short, realizing his feet had fused with the earth.

While the Blademaster had been occupied with Shale and the werewolves' attacks, The conjurer had been spending his time entangling his feet with strong, powerful vines, pulling him down and trapping him. The Blademaster only struggled a little longer before 6 arrows hit every weak point in his armor they could find, killing him before he understood the blows had struck. "Cooperation..." Shale mused "If we did that more, maybe this war wouldn't have occurred in the first place..."  
The party moved on in high spirits, and made their way into Anima's forces, working to reinforce any weak points the lines had.

Shale looked over at where Anima was fighting the other gods "All this time, and they still can't just sit down and cooperate... well, I suppose there's no helping it" Remarked shale as he continued to fight, Stopping a blast of fire meant to hit one of his elf warriors with a wind slash of his own.

Skaer emerged from the air with another. "My title is Chronos, i have seen your reactions, I timed my steal of your friend so that nobody would get hurt." said Chronos "Now, I must save the townsfolk and remaining guard." Within an instant everyone from the town was standing before them. "But how did you manage-" said Hayle "I am chronos, I have spent all my time studying the art of time manipulation. They took time to get here, I just made sure it was no real time at all."

1 Raatsh remained fighting against the enemies that charged him, he simply walked through them, impaling enemies on his feet as he went. Collossi tried stomping him into the dirt, but he was too fast for that. He continued slaughtering countless numbers of anima's creations. Orcs poured past him, hacking away at the enemy with their crude weapons.

Rain smirked at Auger's comment, and replied, "They also taught me to retreat when it was almost certain you would die, and yet I'm still here." He sent a surge of energy out from his arm at a charging Knight, and then decapitated it, as he slid to the side, and slashed an Elf that followed the knight and swung at Rain. "I'm starting to think they were right though."

Aeon came flying after the Raatsh, sword in hand, as he swung, and from the sword came a wave of energy, curving outward at the Raatsh, slicing into it, as he followed with a second, horizontal swing, which did the same as the last. He flew underneath it and then did an uppercut, energy stemming out of his sword to increase its length in order to thoroughly destroy the machine. Aeon then spun around and swung again, horizontally, the wave of energy aimed at the colossi nearby, slicing its head in half.

Exitius was walking casually through the battlefield, as any soldier that wasn't his own approached him was thrown back by his power and disintegrated, turning into dust it seemed. He tore through the battlefield, still walking casually as ever, headed for the other three gods. His army clearing the way, as a majority of what it was made up of are walking tanks anyway.

Chaos and Anima threw all their strength into their respective attacks, trying to gain the upper hand, but it seemed to be a stalemate. Both saw this, and tried a different strategy, wear the enemy down so that the killing blow can be delivered. The battle around them raged on, despite the heavy losses. Anima saw that the battle couldn't be won, though, and spoke to Shale telepathically. "_We've done our best here, now is the time to retreat though. I'll keep the enemy at bay so that the path remains clear for you._" she says to her commander, following through with her promise.

"You should get out of here, you know" Remarked Auger, uncharacteristically calm and cool asa he Cut through a pair of disorders "Those over there, those really strong ones... We don't stand a chance before them, and soon all here will fall before them, like ants before a giant" Auger looked disturbed " I was unaware beings of that level of power existed" Auger remarked, blocking a dwarf's hammer before slipping under his guard and impaling him.  
"So, shall we go...?" Auger realized he knew not the name of the person before him "...friend?" Auger filled in the blank, the word seeming to fit to him.  
"Seems like they are gettin' a bit too serious" Shale commented "A'right troops, it seems we are about a step away from Annihilation. We need to conduct a strategic retreat, and doubletime! Any who lag behind will likely be annihilated, if past experiences are correct."  
_this seems to be another stalemate battle_" Shale thought to himself. With growing discomfort, he moved his squad out of the battle, and slowly, the rest of the army followed suit, as the signals passed through the ranks.  
"...Anima should be able to handle herself here" Shale commented, somewhat worried about whether or not this battle would prove to be the final one, and whether the victory would be Anima's or not. "i should be focusin' on my own damn job, I think" Shale said, snapping himself out of it "And gettin' these kids home".

Aeon spun around a third time, still in the air, as he swung, channeling more power into his sword. That same energy flew out of his sword and impacted into the ground, creating an uprising which flung the enemy high into the air. Those caught in the wave of energy directly were sliced in half. Aeon flew to the destroyed ground and landed softly. He saw the duel between Chaos and Anima and walked over to it, enemies not bothering to engage the god before them, and instead focused on the mortals attacking them.  
Exitius pulled out his sword, which glowed with energy channeling into it, and continued marching toward the other three gods, enemies being flung about. Anima's warriors were all almost out of the battle, as Anima herself held back the enemy for them to retreat. She was greatly exhausted by now, though, and as such had to retreat herself, but being locked in a duel against Chaos, she couldn't exactly just disappear.

Rain smirked as he heard the surface thoughts in Auger's mind. "Let's leave the introductions for later then." He says, as he unfolds his wings, unleashing a barrier-like energy wave outward, it passing through Auger and not affecting him, but threw the enemies in every which direction. Rain offered his hand to Auger, obviously showing that he suggested they fly out of here rather than walk out of here.

Onyx looked at the mighty power exploding all around him, frustrated at the powerlessness he had. His brethren fell all around him, cut apart by forces from all sides. Only a few orcs left, he roared in anger and hopelessness, despair and rage both present in his mighty roar. " _You have suffered so much, and I see it is through my actions it has happened"_ A soft feminine voice, talking in his ear _"I pity you. it is through my actions you were driven down this road, so through my actions you will get a chance to gain it back"_. "Wh-who are you?" Onyx gasped, stunned. _"After you get away from this battle, seek out my people. my name is Anima..._ Onyx began to protest, until he saw the last of the orcs cut down by a blademaster. Seeing that the blademaster believed he had killed everyone, Onyx threw his ax and caused a grievous wound before running away, sobbing, hoping to find a way to this "Anima" person, and hoping to avenge his people. "I promise, I will not let the old ways die here. I will do all I can to help my people!"

Auger looked over at the "friend" he had made. Grabbing his outstretched arm, he looked over at the gods that were fighting "Next time, I won't be running." Stopping a last attack from a chaotic knight, the pair flew away, moving past the battle occurring all around them.

Shale looked back, as Anima did all she could to fight Chaos off. "Tch." Shale said to himself as he ran back towards the conflict "Anima's going to kill me for this one, I can already imagine the yelling that will go on." Shale continued towards the battlefield, wind building up in his scimitar. The spirits of the wind could be visibly seen for a few seconds as they added their power to his, creating strength in his blade.

He approached the battlefield, behind a tree, and suddenly moved past it and slashed, the force of the blow ripping up the ground as it approached an Unawares Chaos. " _I created an opening for you, and it will take her a few seconds to finish me off. Run, Anima, you have the perfect opportunity._ Abruptly ending and closing the link, so as not to hear argument, Shale built up all the force he could into his blade, ready to block Chaos' attack.  
As Chaos turned her notice to Shale, Shale adopted a defensive stance, and prepared for oblivion, fully willing to give up his life for the sake of preserving hope for those who still had it.

Rain, carrying Auger, flies into the air, a sort of a weightless aura permeating them as they flew into the clouds, piercing through the storm. Rain's wings carried them both with ease, it seemed, though Rain himself didn't look too good. It seemed his wounds were starting to get the better of him, as the nanites in his blood stream started trying to get him to sleep so that they can start the real repair work. Rain fought back the disiness though, as they went through the cloud 'wall' again and saw the ground below.

Rain and Auger were headed for the cliff side from before, it seemed, as while he let go of Auger about a foot away from the ground near the edge of the cliff, Rain himself ended up swinging around and crashing right into a tree, rather roughly too, as his wings fell limp as did his arms and legs. The tree itself was cracked, slightly, and bent a bit, but stood firmly still. Rain laughed at their crash landing for some reason. "If my slave masters were here, they'd have a fit..." He says, before falling into a deep sleep as he lay against the tree, smiling weakly still.

Anima sees Shale's attempt at a distraction and though dislikes what Shale is doing, she couldn't do much about it, with the last of her strength, she teleported away and aided in Shale's block, creating a barrier of sorts. Chaos channeled her energy and was about to attack Shale when Aeon stepped in, for reasons not quite clear. Aeon slashed at Chaos, distracting her as Shale was whisked away by Anima. Aeon smiled as she stepped forth and saw that Chaos was very much annoyed by his interference.

"Hmmmmm" Auger looked at Rain, who was currently knocked out "He doesn't appear to be dead. I think i should put him in a place where other stuff can't grab him or eat him or...Whatever the hell things do here to unconscious people...

" Auger grabbed Rain and started dragging him towards a nearby cave, after a few seconds he realized that dragging someone by their neck on the ground was probably not a good way to move someone, and shifted to carrying Rain on his back. "Jeez, this is heavy" Auger complained "I hope he wakes up soon. I have stuff to ask him."

Shale looked over at his own wounds " _Am I going to be alright? Is Anima?_" Shale thought. then he realized that Anima and he were away from the battlefield now _"We are going to have a nice long talk about where the commander's place is on the battlefield, and where it ISN'T, but for now, rest_" Anima said to Shale, in a tone that seemed to be partly angry, and partly concerned.  
_Shale suddenly felt very drowsy, and could not(And did not, for that matter) Fight the sudden sleep that overtook him._  
Onyx grabbed a couple scraps of cloth and tied them around the cut in his leg. many more remained uncovered "I'm so...weak" Lamented Onyx. "Anima...I will find you...if it takes all I have to do so"

After about roughly an hour, Rain came to, he slowly opened his eyes and groaned softly. It took him a few minutes to look around at wherever he was, and a few moments later, his memory came flooding back as he remembered what happened recently. "Ugh...uh...where am I?" He asked Auger, still somewhat drowsy.  
"I don't even know what this world is called, let alone this place" Auger replied. "but I think we are in a cave, because there is no second entrance into here" "By the way, do you enjoy meat? Auger says, holding what looked like dog meat on a sharp spear. "Found a 3 headed dog thing. it seemed to have gotten lost in the battle, and came close to here. It's probably edible"

Shale Awoke, tired and bruised. looking over at the nurse "Anima said she will be coming in to talk to you soon. We are to keep you here until she can look you over. _"More likely she just doesn't want me going anywhere till she's done getting angry at me_" Shale thought to himself. ...Nurse. How much of us are left. "It was a victory for us, while the other forces are reduced to a tenth of their old power, a quarter of our forces remain standing. Quite impressive, don't you think" the nurse said, smiling.

"No, I don't" Said Shale, a frown forming on his face. For every 4 of my warriors I saw on the field, I know that 3 of them were lead to their deaths by me. How would you feel knowing that, doctor?" The nurse, knowing she had hit a nerve, gently apologized. "I'm sorry, commander... Would you like me to leave you alone?"

"...Yeah, it might be best. Besides, Anima is gonna be here soon. you don' wanna see her when she's mad... Though then again, you ARE kinda cute. wanna lay down next to me in the bed and-" Shale was hit in the face with a roll of gauze "Pervert!" The nurse said, Walking out in irritation. "Ah well" Shale said "There's always another cute nurse around"  
"I finally found it" Onyx gasped for air. Onyx looked at the small fortress ahead of him, a white citadel, with trees all around it, Plantlife abundant, and thorny vines overgrowing the castle walls. the vines had roses all over them, giving the castle a beautiful appearance. The moat's water was very pure, and shined beautifully in the suns light. wildlife abounded in the forest, much of it predatory, and Onyx had a feeling that it could turn very hostile very fast. Onyx intuitively knew that this must be Anima's castle, and walked towards it,hoping to find a way to restore his shattered clan.

Chaos just laughed as Hayle and Skaer ran toward Shale. Skaer began charging his energy blast as Hayle showered Shale with blocked attacks. Then Angus arrived with Oresia, "This is all gonna end sooner than la-" Angus was cut off mid sentence as behind him the castle erupted in a brilliant explosion. A good chunk was taken out of the earth as Oresia kissed the dead ground "The Glow! Is it not wonderful brethren?" Only Angus was able to notice as Skaer and Hayle were too caught up in trying to bring victory to their honoured god.

Chronos came to the fight in a blaze of time, simply appearing before their feeble eyes. He stopped and looked at what he had to work with. Dead bodies piled high, pestilence was growing and two more armies were raging into the battle. "This has to end soon" He said, the castle walls flying to pieces, bricks and dirt atomized as they burst away from the explosion in all directions. "Welcome to hell" he thought.

Rain kind of shies away from the offer, not really up to eating dog meat. "I'm okay, thanks anyway." He says, thinking of how Auger could eat that stuff. He turns his head to look at the exit when he notices that there were still some arrows stuck in him. "...huh, that's interesting." He comments, as he pulls the arrow out of his arm and stares at it. It didn't seem painful at all to him. Rain then took the other two arrows, one out of his leg and another in his back. The wounds from the arrows healed near instantly. "...Depending on what the gods do, a portal should appear somewhere around here." Rain said, as he threw the arrows out of the cave entrance.

Though the battle was fierce and there was much bloodshed, neither the losses that were surmounting, nor the destruction were on Leo's mind. He knew his goal was to find his son, and that was it. Through the battlefield did he search but to no avail. Constantly did enemies get in his way, and constantly did they die by his lightsaber, as he easily sliced their weapons in half and same for their bodies, always going for the merciful, quick kill. He didn't think too much of their deaths, if he did it'd prove detrimental. It was hard not to think of it, but he managed, always concentrating on his goal.

Leo pushed through the enemy lines toward the fortress gate, which around this time the enemy started to fall back, the battle pretty much over with at this point. He looked around everywhere, using his force sense, but still nothing he recognized as possibly being his son. "Dammit!" He yelled out as he punched the wall, breaking it, and creating a dent. He hung his head, and then he saw it, a single white feather. He looked at it oddly, and picked it up, examining it he already knew it wasn't Aeon's angels that this came from. "Hmm…" It gleamed in the sunlight, like snow in the winter, and it was equal in color, not at all covered in mud. "That's odd…" He comments, as he places the feather in his pocket, just because he can. He turns around and walks toward the forest nearby, or at least what's left of it. "Another battle stalemated. He'll never win like this."

"Suit yourself" Auger said, wolfing down the meat. it was, in all reality, poor fare, but Auger had long since discarded any pickiness when it came to food. Auger began thinking about the questions he might ask Rain, until he finally settled on one. "Hey friend" Auger said casually "I haven't been able to find an answer so far, but what does the word betrayer mean?"

It took 30 minutes for Anima to finish scolding shale for his conduct for the battle, and since then, he had been lying on a nearby hill, watching the clouds." Somethin's gotta give soon" Shale shifted his position " Right now, I should be increasing my own abilities... But first, I think I'll take a nap."

Onyx ran through the gates, not caring about the shocked looks of the people around him, and screamed at the top of his lungs "WHERE IS ANIMA!"  
"Betrayer? It's a name or title people give to others for leaving or sabotaging a cause or crusade, a group, etcetera and so forth. They're sometimes given falsely as well. Other words similar to it are traitor or backstabber, words like that." Rain replies to Auger, answering his question completely. "Why?" He asks in return, curious.

Leo kept walking, lightsaber in hand, when before too long, he was teleported away, off the planet, just as he predicted. _Ten minutes, eleven seconds._ He thought to himself, recording the time it took for Aeon to find and teleport him out of there. He looked up from the ground to see the fortress Aeon had constructed for his army. The walls were a golden color, the streets a pure white stone, and the buildings a multitude of colors. The sun was shining bright, if only there was a sun, the light in truth came from the castle, which shone so bright it was hard to look at it directly. "..." Leo walked toward the castle, as where he was supposed to go after all battles.

Jaxe walked casually through the battlefield, looking at all the dead bodies. While to most it would be horrifying, to Jaxe it was glorious. Soul after soul did he absorb, increasing his power evermore, and while many he couldn't claim, the ones he did were well worth the losses in his mind at least. He laughed, thinking of how wonderful it felt being stronger than the rest. "This universe is in complete shambles, there's no hope for it at all!"

"Traitor? Backstabber? Cause? Your words make no sense... wait, do you mean that he prefers not to attack from the front? Cause he did try to hit me in the sides and back a few times." Auger sat there, extremely confused.

Onyx Was soon dragged off to a nearby jail, but was stopped halfway there by none other than Anima herself "G-goddess" One of the elves started to say "We were just about to drag this ruffian to jai-" Anima looked at them and smiled "I hardly think that is how we should treat a guest of mine. Come, Onyx, and i will tell you of my deal... "

Shale noted the clamor in the castle, able to hear the orcs voice even from where he was "Oi, my sleep has been disturbed...Oh well. I shouldn't have napped as long as I did anyway. But I suppose I should start training already..."

"...oh...that's why..." Rain says, retracting his question. "No, it's more of a moral issue not physical." Rain answers Auger again, taking out the hilt of his energy sword to tinker with it, and pass the time. He starts by taking it apart with his mind. As it floated in front of him it broke into several dozen individual pieces, some so small it was barely noticeable. Piece by piece it was put back together again, slowly, and in a different order than it was disassembled with for some reason.

A voice called to Shale inside his head. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't be sure who it was specifically. _"Why train in the art of killing, Shale?"_ The voice asked Shale, not bothering with introductions apparently.

Leo stood there, in the center of a stone ring, outside of it stood several spectators, angels of Aeon. Three entered the ring, a Seraphim Soldier and two Angelic Knights, just as Leo asked. The rules were already stated beforehand, so they immediately brought out their weapons and entered a combat stance. Leo took out the hilt of his saber and held it casually, ready to turn it on in a moment's notice however. He stood there, looking at the floor as to hide his face from his adversaries, and to reach out with the Force, and better predict their movements.

"Pathetic, absolutely pathetic..." He said aloud, repeating it to himself every few seconds, not at all impressed by the bloodshed of the battle. He walked through the battlefield still, awaiting further commands from his goddess. "...pathetic fools didn't put up enough of a challenge, worthless souls to absorb..."

"...Gah! I don't know what a moral is either! this question is too confusing, let me try another one... What are feelings?" Auger said, Somewhat confused, but anxious to learn. 

" _I've went through this argument before, and come to the same answer again and again. don't make me rehash it. who is this?_" Shale asked, somewhat surprised that someone could have entered his mind without knowledge, but reasonably confident in his ability to repel it if needed. 

Onyx was furiously training, doing whatever he could to fulfill Anima's deal. The premise was simple; If he fought for Anima, she would revive his clan, if Anima won the war. After hearing this, Onyx put himself in training with Anima's forces, furiously hoping to gain strength. An elvish avenger was put in charge of Training him to become stronger, by the name of Kael'Teron. A strong warrior, Kael was a hero of the battle of Hayldrig amongst the forces, and his power was said to be slightly above that of even a regular avenger. After a sparring practice, Onyx looked at the elvish avenger,

"Orcs can hear just as acutely as an elf. I know you requested to train me specifically, when you talked to Anima. Why?". Kael stopped in his tracks, looking at the orc. "I saw your battle against a friend of mine. A dwarf berserker by the name of Olf. He and I had trained together in times past, and until you stopped him, he had been holding up that division front by himself. As it was, I was helpless to stop you, fighting a fierce battle against an enforcer. By the time I turned back, you had given the death blow."

"so, you wanted this position to kill me, then" Onyx said, his hand reaching for his Axe despite knowing that he was still no match for this powerful opponent.

Kael shook his head "No. I also saw how you honored him, and his passing. You have honor and strength, and I can sense the purity within you. like many others in this war, you simply fought for your friends and family. I want to help you achieve the goal you are working for so hard." Kael looked past the castle balcony.

"Take care walking around though. Some here do not enjoy an orc in the midst, tainting what they blasphemously call the "pure" races. Unfortunately, even Anima has slime amongst her ranks."

"Very well, then" Onyx replied "though, if anyone IS foolish enough to attack me, I shall show them in full the strength of an orc!"

"Kael simply laughed "I find myself enjoying my talks with you, Onyx" Onyx soon found himself laughing as well, and they sat and watched the sunset, laughing together.

"Feelings..." Rain says, eyes still fixated on his weapon as it is put together again. "Do you know of how pain feels, or this sort of invisible burden placed on your heart? How about losing control of your actions and your thoughts, or a strong desire to do something, whatever it may be? Those are feelings, either physical or mental. Sorrow, rage, perhaps protectiveness, but that's more of an impulse I suppose."

"Someone you shall come to know in the near future, I assure you. However, are you sure your reasons are correct?" The voice replies, asking the question again it seemed. "Is it not against your desire to find peace?"

Leo waited for his opponents to charge. Time passed slowly, however, as he waited, every second feeling like an hour in of itself. Several moments passed, and finally the warriors flew at Leo, their feet not even touching the ground. They both swung in unison at both of Leo's flanks. Leo's response was fast. In a flash, he jumped up and spun, blocking both attacks with ease and then kicked a warrior, sending him flying, as he landed, he ducked the second warrior's attack.

Leo then back flipped to avoid the Seraphim's spear, which threatened to impale him. As he landed, he spun around and jumped, landing on the first warrior that flew around to try and attack Leo from behind. Leo sent the warrior crashing into the ground as he jumped off again, coming down on top of the knight, saber poised to slice him in half. The knight blocked the saber with his spear, its enchantment blocking the damaging energy.

"Oh. I think I'm finally starting to understand" Auger sat there, quietly contemplating this "it's those funny illogical wants and feelings that have nothing to do with being hungry or wanting to fight, right?... Are you sure you don't want the last slice of meat?" Auger offered the stick to Rain, entirely unable to see any problem with it "I saved the juicy part".

Shale sighed "[i] Like I said, I went though this argument many times. Inaction will only slow the progress in this war. If one god gets the advantage, then at the very least peace-talks might occur. In any case, I certainly won't betray Anima, of all things, so if thats what you wanna talk about, you best scoot outta here."

Onyx continued training with Kael'theron, gaining much more mastery over his axe.

He had begun to learn a new thing, also, in a recent spar. Kael had been attacking his guard with rapid swipes, and Onyx had been desperately fighting to regain the advantage. while the fight went on, he could do nothing, and in another flash of intuition, hit his fist against the ground. a slight shaking of the earth occured under Kael's feet, throwing him off balance more out of surprise than anything else. Onyx quickly took the advantage, and whacked Kael soundly in the chest with his axe.

Thanks to the wards in the training arena, however, the only thing that happened was a small red smoke popped out of where Kael had been hit, and no real damage was done. Even so, it impressed Kael quite a bit. After the practice, the two walked back to the barracks together

"Why didn't you tell me you knew magic?" Kael asked, surprised  
"I had no idea i had any"  
"hmm, according to the sorcerors nearby, though, you have a great connection with the spirits of earth. if you trained this skill, you would be one of the strongest earth mages of your time."  
"hmmmm..."

"Yeah, something like that, and I'm good, thanks." Rain said again, as the last piece falls into place. As it does so, the blade activates, energy flying out in two bands, overlapping each other as they reached the tip, and then came back in. As it went back into the hilt, a grid formed within the overlapping bands, and a metal blade formed, with the bands still there. "Hmm, much better." Rain says, as the sword floats into his hands.

_"No, that's not why I'm here at all. Why is it you refuse to answer the question directly?"_ The voice asks, continuing its interrogation of Shale. _"Are you sure you're being honest to yourself, or to others?"_

Leo used his powers to propel himself forward, flipping around the knight, and then kicking him in the back, sending the knight forward, as he spun around and struck the spear out of his hands. Leo lifted the knight up and threw him out of the ring, as he rolled forward to dodge the second warrior. He jumped up from the roll and kicked the first warrior right before he attacked Leo, sending him flying, outside of the ring.

As the first warrior crashed onto the ground, the second one teleported beside Leo and struck, then teleported again and repeated. He was quick, but Leo was holding his own, blocking each attack as he anticipated them.

"anyway, I forgot my weapons chain at the scene of the battle. I better go get 're welcome to come, if you don't mind the patrols of the three headed dog things and the gigantic fire breathing ones. then again, they will probably pass near the cave soon anyway, so a safer location should be found too, or we'll get eaten in our sleep. I wonder if we would wake up before we got digested, if one of the big ones swallowed us whole, or if we'd suffocate first...anyway, bye for now!" And with that, Auger was off, sprinting for the other part of his beloved weapon, and hoping to run into trouble.

_"I don't lie, not to myself. However, me staying as I am, I won't be able to protect Anima, and I won't be able to change this world at all. Whether or not it helps bring peace directly, it will help me in my quest to gain it. To answer your question, I am as honest with myself as anybody can be with themselves. If you have a better idea, tell me."_

"...I could have just flown us there under the cover of night..." Rain comments moments after Auger left, having no time to reply to Auger while he was here. "...what a loon..." Rain says, as he stands up, the blade of his sword receding into the hilt, becoming energy again as it deactivates. Rain casually walks out of the cave entrance and unfolds his wings, rocketing himself up into the sky, and disappearing into the clouds. Unlikely that anything would see him unless they were nearby Rain as he flew away.

_"It is your choice, and the consequences shall be yours to receive."_ The voice replies to Shale as it fades away from his mind. It sounded so familiar, and yet, foreign. So plain, and yet, sorrowful, hateful in a way not directed at Shale.

Auger was having a good day. So far, he had increased his abilities further from his last battle, a pair of hellhounds had attacked him and given him a good workout, and he was close to getting his chain back. "Finally, I found you" Says Auger, searching through the wreckage, finally finding his chain, and merely a few feet away now

"Jeez, that was not what I wanted to wake up too. what a hassle. Still, it's something I need to keep in mind. Just who was that? Ahh, but talking to myself won't get me anywhere. i should get to what i was doing." Shale sped off towards the mountain, hoping to do what he could before nightfall.

A man with a cold white beard and a dark yet pale face appeared in front of the chain, lying broken on the ground. He held a projectile weapon in his hand. This one did not look like the ones that the others carried, it looked sleek and smooth where the others were large and cumbersome and the power was exponentially more than the others... "To retrieve your weapon you must answer me this" He said to Auger "How many must you kill before it satisfies your inner rage?"

"Rage? I don't know what that is, but why would I need to stop fighting? Without it, I become so terribly bored..." Auger remarked, with a grin "A fine enough answer from a barbaric being..." he replied "I guess you may have the prize of your prided weapon even for such a pitiful answer" And with that he vanished from sight. Auger grabbed up the chain while looking in the direction the man used to be standing in. "Jeez" Auger raised an eyebrow "This planet sure has a lot of weirdos"

Chronos appeared in front of the cave, muttering to himself. "How could someone not learn emotion and remain alive, even on a planet where war is the norm? Could he have... learned pain and hatred?" "I must ask him" Skaer emerged from the cave "He tried to kill Angus you know, why would he try to do that?" he asked, expecting no answer "I think we need to speak with him, the battle is over and he seems calm enough in the presence of unthreatening people. I presented myself in my weakest form, and you said that Angus appeared before him and disarmed several reapers? I would find that very intimidating if I weren't the mage I am..." said Chronos. "I agree with you, I think we can learn much from him- What's that in your hand?" "This is something I gathered from one of the fallen civilizations on this planet, They called It a _pistol_ They are more powerful than the hand cannon Hayle got from Oresia and I can simply conjure the ammunition that they used back then... If I have the supplies... Currently I have 30 blasts of power from it, I'll conceal it within time when we find Auger."

Rain was flying casually in the sky, staring up at the stars above him, admiring them. When he sensed Auger's presence, he spun around and flew through the clouds, dragging them down some and forming a small funnel as he landed behind Auger. "Did you get your toy?"

Leo found a pattern in the offensive measure of the enemy. As he continued parrying, he slowly gathered energy for a wave attack, meant to disorient him. As the warrior came at him once more, Leo unleashed the attack, flinging him back and accomplished what Leo was aiming for. Leo immediately dashed, using his powers to augment his speed greatly, and swung his sword, actually breaking the opponent's weapon and then roundhouse kicked the warrior out of the ring. Lastly, Leo was the only person left in the ring, and without a single scratch on him.

Auger attached the chain to his weapon, ready for action again. "I am highly offended you would call this fine weapo-" Auger pushed rain away from him as he noticed the threat, before rolling away himself. A chaos dragon crashed to the ground, its very entrance knocking Auger off his feet. A tunnel of flame flashed across Auger's previous position, narrowly jumped over by Auger. Auger's chain swung towards the dragons head, and took just a second to collide with...where the dragon's head used to be, as he appeared behind Auger. "Well, let me try something new" Auger remarked as he spun the chain around in a slashing motion as he hit the ground. The dragon batted the slash away with its paw...only for the chain to come up a second later and cut the side of the dragons' armpit. The dragon, realizing this creature would be annoying to deal with personally, tries to manipulate Auger's mind. " _I can't win against a dragon. I need to surrender, and pledge my servitude to Chaos. Chaos is everything. I must serve Chaos. Resistance is futi-_ The hell is that? I think i hit my head somewhere along the way" Auger's focus managed to drive off the mental control of the Chaos dragon without even realizing it had been attempted. Both Opponents squared off, looking for the next opening in their opponent. Auger looked over to Rain " You go for his blind side, and we'll do just fine."

"STOP" shrieked Chronos "this _WAS_ a battleground" the dragon was motionless as were the animals that were frantically fleeing the area moments before "Chronos, did you just speed us up?" asked Skaer "Well I can't exactly stop the dragon now can I? How else would we have a civilized conversation with Auger and -his... friend?" "wait a minute...the worlds's not supposed to do this crap" Auger noted "the hell's going on?" looking over, he sees the white bearded man "Hey old dude, who made the dragon stop moving? I was just beginning to have fun." "Auger, we need to talk..." said Skaer "What do you know of where you came from?" " It was dusty, there was a lot of fighting, and it's people didn't suddenly become motionless when I am in the middle of a good battle. Jeez, talk about a buzzkill..."

"Uh, excuse me. Who the hell are you?" Rain asks, stepping forward, as he channels some of his energy to defend himself against these new enemies. _Never trust anyone that uses their abilities freely._ The voice of his trainer reminded him in his head, he was remembering stuff from the past again. "geez" Auger puts his arms back, seeming bored "Don't be so quick to worry. if these people were here to kill us, and thought they had the strength, They would have let the dragon tire us out first. Unless, of course, they are like me, and want a good fight..." Auger looks at Skaer and Chronos, giving them a quick scan with his eyes "But for instance, look at that one, I doubt he could even pass for a trader with rowdy clients." Auger points to chronos "And he has most of the same movements of those who hide in the shadows on my world, too weak to stand in the open." "Indeed, I am weak... In this form..." said Chronos "I can keep us in suspended time for many an hour though. I have always tried to use my powers for peace, not war. This is why you intrigue me Auger, it seems that you came from a planet with no morals..." "...no what?" Auger asked, confused "Why cant people here use normal words... friggin betrayers, and morals, and those other weird words the betrayer used... "sorrow" and "defiler"... Use normal words!" "How... Do you know the meaning of hate?" asked Skaer "Or of rage? Do you at least know what emotion _is?_" "Well, I know rage. It's that thing where people come after you with it, and sometimes they get stronger because of it, but most of the time they just become incompetent, right?" "Right... Auger, it's been an interesting conversation, though rather short and staccato. I will leave now, but before I do... Aim for his gut" barely before the words passed his grinning lips he was gone with Skaer. "heh, dont have to tell me twice. Off i go." Auger jumped onto the dragons hand before jumping underneath it and sinking his longsword in its gut, and throwing the shortsword into the creatures armpit. He rolled out of the wayt of the dragon quickly, as it tried to crush auger underneath its body. it was too late, though, and auger already threw another attack at the creatures head, which it dodged using its wings as it took to the air, hoping to use its fire from a distance to kill the pests which attacked it. "Hey, I can't reach him from here, friend. Mind giving me a little lift with those wings of yours? Auger asked of Rain.

Angus and Oresia were back at the cave, Oresia was mixing chemicals and trying to make a more potent explosive powder. Angus was practicing his new spells, telling Oresia to throw stuff at him and blocking it with shield and then putting words into his mouth making Oresia say things like "I'm an idiot" or "I couldn't hit the side of a barn" It was funny... For Angus...

"Is there a point to this conversation, because if not, quite honestly, there's a war to fight." Rain says, slinging his sword around, resting it on his back, surprisingly, the energy doesn't hurt him at all. "Just do what you came to do so that we can move on with our lives." Rain says again, somewhat impatient with all of this.

"You're doing good, as always, Leo." A man had spoken to him, after the fight. As Leo turned around, he saw Aeon, faintly smiling, but looking serious as he always does. Or rather...depressed like, perhaps. "I take it there's another assignment for me?" Leo asks Aeon, skipping right to the point of why his god is standing there addressing him. "Never waste a second... Yes, I do." Aeon replied.

Rain smiled, as he held out his hand and Auger was lifted up into the air by a rocky platform he conjured up from the earth. Rain then conjured up several spikes from the earth to impale the dragon, mostly to keep him occupied.

Kain Shadow was walking through the hallways of Exitus's dark fortress, a dark, lethal aura almost visibly around him, he seemed impatient about something. He walked into a room and held his blade to the neck of a Judge, apparently the general that lead the recent attack on Chaos's fortress.

"...I take it you wanted in on that last invasion?" The judge asked calmly as if the threat of the blade was nothing. "Exitus has ordered me to hunt down and eliminate every one of the enemy's generals, and such were present in that battle. You knew that and did not inform me. Why?" Kain responded plainly, sword still held up at the judge. "Your presence wasn't required." "Hmph, given the losses you sustained, I would think otherwise you incompetent idiot." "Why you-!" The judge yelled out as he went to strike at Kain, but before he could act, his arms were chopped off nearly instantly. The judge barely saw Kain move, as the sword was still aimed at him, blood covering it. "There won't be a next time for you to impede my progress." Kain said coldly, as he swiftly chopped off the judge's head, killing him.

Kain then looked at the 1st class reaper standing in the corner, who regarded the judge's death as a natural occurrence rather than something to be horrified at. "You're now in charge of what he once was, I expect you to learn from his mistake." Kain said to the reaper as he turned around and left. The reaper sighed at his sudden promotion, apparently, he didn't appreciate it, as he called for a couple other reapers to clean up the mess Kain left.

Auger Smiled, looking down at the now trapped dragon, as he considered what to do next. Auger whipped his short sword at the dragon at the highest speed he could, and predictably, the dragon teleported behind auger. The dragon shot flame at the platform of rock, but auger was prepared, stomping the platform with such force that it swerved to an angle diagonal to the dragon. The fire hit the platform, and mostly subverted from it. Auger gave the platform an additional kick, and oddly enough, the platform's momentum did shift a bit closer to the dragon. Auger jumped onto the other sider of the rock platform, and jumped off at the highest point, weapons ready as he landed on the dragons head. The dragon roared and attempted to bite Auger, but he twisted directly underneath it, and cut into the dragons jugular with his weaponry. The dragon roared with pain, and Auger smashed into the dragons ribcage as he fell, softening his landing enough for him to survive. The dragon fell, its tenuous hold on life already fading, and Auger sat next to it, looking at the beast. "You were a good opponent" Auger said "Heh, I don't think I can get up for a couple minutes..."

Angus was sitting outside of the cave he had called home for so long. His thoughts were on the ever changing world he was on. His past was a mere blur in his eyes, he remembered growing up but he could only recall small detailed moments. "If only I knew my origins..." he proclaimed with sorrow in his voice. Something in the bushes clumsily burst forth, and another and another! there were three blade masters surrounding him. before he could call out to Oresia inside they were on him. Almost as if it was instinct his blade was drawn and two of his foes lay fading on the ground. the one that was left gaped at his comrades. He glowed with an aura of fury. Within nanoseconds Angus was in the heat of battle blocking as many blows as he could with his scimitar. The master was relentless, throwing strikes that he could not have defended against had he not gotten the training from Hayle. Like lightning Angus strafed to either side dodging blows and striking when he could. After several minutes his foe was bleeding from several wounds and should not have been standing. Angus quickly and without mercy sliced cleanly through his unguarded neck. Moments after several reapers were emerging from the woods. "Damn you Exitus..." he muttered under his breath. He quickly dispatched several of the reapers getting more and more tired as he fought. "I can't near exhaustion..." "Angus!" shouted Oresia, tossing him a vial full of amber sludge "drink it! trust me!" he said. Without hesitation Angus downed the contents of the container and threw it to the ground raising his blade just in time to block two more strikes. Oresia was now throwing vials of acid at incoming black knights while they fell to the ground Angus had less enemies to worry about. "For Chaos' sake... they can't seriously be sending all of this at us... What the blast could they want." during the course of his sentence six more reapers and a knight lay dead on the ground.

When Chronos and Skaer came out of the time distortion they found a ring of inquisitors surrounding Hayle. "I could really use some help guys..." he said, several gaping wounds clearly visible all over him. "Dear Chaos..." without hesitation Chronos had him and his friends in zero time. "Skaer how long will it take to heal him?" he asked "I need about ten minutes" he replied "Damn! I should not have wasted so much power on our conversation!"  
After five minutes the time shield began to falter. "I must run, I need to recharge and I am no use to anyone dead." said Chronos "Go, old friend Hayle and I can take care of ourselves. Hayle got to his feet, the wounds now tough scars. Chronos was gone and it was time to fight for their lives. The inquisitors began to charge and hayle sliced through several of them, Skaer formed the weapon Chronos had showed him with his cloud. and shot at one of them. The bullets ricocheted off of it's armour. "Useless..." he said forming it into a longsword and wielding his dagger in the other hand as a defender. It was an instant before he was fighting back to back with Hayle against several waves of Exitus' hordes.

Auger could hear crashing swords dimly in the distance, and began listening a little more to the direction. "Hey, friend, i think I hear more fighting... It sounds like...A small force...and a giant one. heh" Auger shifted his swords to his shoulder, getting up. "I can enjoy this. Let's see whats up" Auger said, rushing off "Hope it's as fun as that dragon"


End file.
